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boomerang
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Boomerang
Authored by Mr. Temba Magorimbo
6.0" x 9.0" (15.24 x 22.86 cm)

Black & White on White paper
682 pages
B∙O∙O∙M∙E∙R∙A∙N∙G
ISBN-13: 9781533568335
ISBN-10: 1533568332
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temba magorimbo
boomerang boomerang
© Copyright tmagorimbo March 2016

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
5.5” x 8.5” (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Temba Magorimbo was born on the 9th of

August 1966, on a Tuesday in the afternoon in
Black & White on White paper
Gwelo, Rhodesia. [now Gweru, Zimbabwe]. His
father was a [British South African Police]
Constable, His mother was a housewife. This
All rights reserved. was in Rhodesia during the Ian Smith era. The
country was separated on a 3-tier racial
system. His family moved around police camps
No part of this book may be reproduced, dotted in and around the city of Gweru albeit
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by Old Camp, Mkoba, Senga, Monomutapa. His
any means without the written permission of primary education was (four months) at
the author. Bumburwi in Old Mkoba and Senga Primary
[1973 – 1979]. The effects of the civil war which
ISBN (13) 978 153 356 8335 mainly became serious between 1975 and
1979-80 affect his writing. He went to schools
(10) 153 356 8332
segregated by race with his race being the
ISIN B01EYJ4VSE bottom of the tier. He went for secondary [high
school] at Nashville High (two weeks) and
Ascot Secondary from 1980 to 1983. He is
married to Itayi and has two daughters Pelagia
Namatai and Pamela Shamiso.
temba magorimbo temba magorimbo

boomerang boomerang
DISCLAIMER Other books by CreateSpace® and Amazon KDP®

by the same author
Check the back flap of the books

All the characters, events and the story in this
novel BOOMERANG revolving around Harare, NO TITLE ISBN #
Marondera, Rusape, Cape Town, New York
1 Boomerang 978-153-356-8335
and Dubai are all figments of my runaway
imagination. The story, events and characters 2 Butterscotch [meet me in 978-149-934-5232
have no direct/indirect relationship to anyone Alberta]
living or dead. Should there by chance be
3 Child Of Promise 978-150-857-4613
such a relationship, it's regretted as being
purely coincidental. However, should I have 4 For All Have Sinned 978-149-934-5283
misrepresented facts, I stand to accept
correction. Please note the customs mentioned 5 If Women Can Weep 978-149-934-5339
can be fictitious. There are no new moon
dances where chiefs select wives for their 6 Lake Of My Heart 978-149-934-5399
subjects. 7 Lamb To The Slaughter 978-150-307-3548
8 Let Close On Me 978-149-934-5429
9 Off The Eagle’s Claws 978-149-934-5453
11 Pata – Pata [soft footsteps] 978-150-109-9825
10 Splash In The Loch 978-149-934-5488
12 They Breed Merino Sheep 978-150-254-2472
13 Tigers Hunt At Night 978-149-934-5550
14 Whiplash [love triangle] 978-150-336-3748

boomerang boomerang
two
generations
ago

boomerang boomerang
motsi (1)

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_________________________________________
He was puffed up by the time he

reached his target. He reached the tree. He
had spotted it while taking a drink down by the
river. Why had he been drawn to the tree? That
he couldn’t tell. All he knew was there was an
attraction between him and certain types of
big trees. It was an attraction like that of a lazy
snake showing its scale colours to a
mesmerized duiker which ended up because
of its curiosity within the belly of the reptile. It
was the same attraction that water had to a
set of warthogs, wildebeests or zebras after
travelling long distances.
Their urge to drink overcame the urge

to be careful. One swift move and a crocodile
would get hold of an animal either by its head
or its leg dragging it to take more of the water
than was permissible. It was the same
attraction. That was the same attraction that a
male spider had to a black widow female
spider. After consummation, the female
devours the male. The tree was the victim.
He was the one wielding the axe. He

looked up at the maze of trees within the
forest. He could hear the chirping of birds or
boomerang boomerang
cicadas’ hiding under leafs or cracks in the man cross cut saw would do if he paid one of
ground or trees. A woodpecker looked at him the men now that they were in dry weather he
from his patch. He had found a dry part of a would select his labour.
tree with a lot of insects inside from which he
was being disturbed. On discovering that the For the meantime he selected and cut
man was not a threat, the woodpecker went off a dead log. He pulled the log behind him
on picking at the wood outside hiding him from heading towards his hideout for the day
his booty. Just a little bit of a while before he beneath a sunshade looking at the river below.
would fill his stomach. He watched out for snakes, scorpions and the
proverbial teams of black ants whose sting was
He surveyed his chosen piece of dead unnerving. These smelt a lot. These were not
tree carefully checking the bottom for termite poisonous. He just didn’t want to be their
work which went up. He grabbed the tree with victim.
both hands from different sides. He was tall and
gangly. His hands covered about seventy His dressing was grey shorts with
percent of the thick stock. He searched for nothing on his chest. Instead he normally tied a
groves created by termites slightly below the cloth around when the weather was chilly
bark. The deeper they were the more likely the otherwise he subsisted through the heat by
wood was to be soft and brittle. He also wearing the minimum of clothes. How many
checked for axe damage further up. Maybe females did one encounter in a forest setting to
some woodsman had tried felling the tree. worry about bare shoulders, biceps and hairy
chests? Custom did not permit him to talk to
An axe could inflict deep cuts inside female members of the adult species with his
which may conflict with whatever he wanted hairy chest and biceps on view. The opposite
to carve the wood for. The tree was just dead was true after all.
and fine. He climbed up to prune away the
smaller branches from the dead tree. The last time women had gone about
Thereafter he started cutting the stock he naked from the waist up was when the
selected. He worked hard. It was not a day’s Europeans were still subjecting Rhodesian
work. It could require a larger saw so that if he Africans to their rule.
wedged the tree he would use the saw. A two
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There were his tools of the trade, a the air the eagles, ravens, sparrow hawk,
chisel, a wooden mattock, a saw, wire, wire falcons and the hawks were riding on air
brush, iron file, iron rasp, wooden mattock and thermals he could not seen from the ground.
what looked like a hoe but which had a sharp He however saw their small heads turning left
and narrow metal part with which he chirped and right. They spotted whatever creature
at the wooden blocks he had to make rough moved on the ground. Occasionally, sometime
shapes. There was a steel piece with holes and ago, he had been sitting contemplating his
abrasion which he used to file away at rough next move when he had seen the shadow of
edges. What came out after rough working he an owl. He heard its gentle swoop. It had
carried home to his homestead from whence moved in and among the trees.
he worked further with a chisel and iron file into
best shape. He had seen a rat on a dead tree less
than three seconds before the owl had
This was his trade. He loved silence swooped less than a centimetre up from the
hence he worked here alone like a hermit dead tree. The owl was gone into the thicket of
examining rocks for trace mineral elements. trees. The rat was nowhere to be seen. The
Here he worked. Here he observed. He noticed hunters rode these thermals with their eyes on
when the birds were flying around. He saw the ground. When he saw the sudden shape of
them when they took fright. He noticed when a swooping eagle, he knew whatever prey was
they were edgy. He was there when they were as good as a nest meal for some eaglets
running across their mating habitat. When they somewhere.
were edgy or took fright, he checked for the
reason. A lone man sitting on a ledge could At one time while working he had
easily be victim of a puff adder, cobra or black observed an eagle flying into the air with a
mamba too lazy to take fright. Other creatures snake in its talons. Working at the homestead
like leopards, hyenas, lions and wild dogs had has problems of noisy and nosy neighbours
gone with human habitation. who wanted to know what he was making.
How can a man expect to have conversation
Occasionally rock rabbits came out of with him as he worked maybe for four hours?
hiding to spy at him shrieking an alarm when a At every turn he would be asked questions. The
shadow of a bird as much as passed nearby. In worst was being given directions when he
boomerang boomerang
knew in his mind what he wanted to produce.

They disturbed him from his thought tracks
when he created his carvings. “Neighbour Kangira the bull elephant I
see you.”
Did he ever converse with a farmer who
was hoeing his crop? Did he try to have Someone had said that sometime later
conversation with a man busy beating two while he sat in a forest on one of his fashioned
drums at one go with both hands and at times stools. This was a tree someone had cut down
using his elbow to impress on the drums? Did he hacking away the rest of the wood leaving the
ever try conversation with a person shaking a stump. Kangira had worked with his chisels and
gourd full of seeds that rattled creating music instruments smoothening the stump into a
while the person had shakers on his legs and natural stool. When the rains came the shoots
hands as they danced and blew their whistle would appear from any of the 360˚ sides. By
like a railway guard telling the engineman that then Kangira would have been onto another
it was time up? He gave his respect to those in work bench in the wild.
their duties.
“Yes neighbour I recognise you too.”
Why didn’t someone come up close to
Kangira had looked up from work of
a security guard out on patrol holding his well
shaving a wooden piece roughing out the
trained dog as big as a he-goat and try
edges of what would be a unique creation.
chatting them up? Why didn’t people go to a
fence where there were Rhodesian security “Do you still have that wood curving of
personnel at air forces, army depots and an elephant?” the other went to the point.
prisons and chat up those guarding the “The one you showed me when there was a
installations holding their G-3 rifles and being beer party by the mountainside?”
pulled or pulling their security dogs on leash?
“Maybe it’s somewhere.”
Woof!
“I found some white guy wants it for the
___________________________________ price of a goat,” the other suggested.

boomerang boomerang
Kangira thought carefully. Europeans except the Boers came by the

Great Trek. They all have no totems. They don’t
“There is a master in Marandellas who have rural areas they have farms. They have no
wanted to see my samples. I can’t sell that until knees since they wear trousers every time.
he sees the miniatures and the real ones,”
Kangira had replied. “They talk about long live the queen
except the Boers who hate the queen of
“A goat!” England. They can send the police or the
Rhodesian forces against us at their whim. If
“Hold on till I visit Marandellas next
they sneeze we lose our productive agricultural
week.”
land. If they fancy the whole of Goromonzi
“My friend _______.” district can be handed to one European
farmer to raise a thousand and a half beef
“What is the hurry? Why the hurry? A cattle and grow a thousand hectares of
goat is a goat whether there is sunshine or the tobacco. Yet they don’t just come to
rains are continuous or not.” confisticate what you produce. They negotiate
and offer better prices. They speak through
“These white folks ____,” the other was their noses so what is different?”
suggesting. “They need delicacy in
negotiating. I negotiated on your behalf as if I “My friend, you are slow in dealing, you
didn’t know you. They will never release the could make a lot of money,” the other
payments in advance for fear of being run into suggested.
a scam though the police can pick me up like
a dead piece of wood because my particulars “Masvosva, you see those forty-three
are known by my employer.” goats and sixteen cattle without calves being
included?” Kangira asked. “If I was that slow in
“I am also dealing with the same ruling dealings, how come I have more stock than
class of European and Boer folk so what’s the some of you who have four wives and sixteen
difference besides that the Boers speak English children? I am slow in dealing yet the district
with a twisted tongue and they are more prone commissioner has never had problems with my
to be racist?” asked Kangira. “They are all land taxes yet most of you so tactful in dealing
boomerang boomerang
flee when you see the green Land Rover with area to sleep in a double bed. For a man who
headlights in a grill that is inside looking like a is slow in dealing I certainly have better
baboon’s eyes in their sockets.” prospects than those who are quick witted.”
“I know there are yours. I was just saying __________________________________

this baas is just unique. This is your chance to
make a good connection, Kangira. This is for
you to be a real bull.”
“Bwana,” Masvosva was saying.
“I mean why do I hurry to get another
He had his cap underneath his armpits.
goat when I have all these?” Kangira asked. “I
He wore a one piece overall that left his socks
can even afford to do my craft while giving the
bare. He had on what looked like boots
goat’s kids to those who look after my stock. I
rejected by the military because their heels
only have to carve a few pieces then buy a
were worn out halfway on the outside which
ticket and submit my pieces to the agricultural
made them slightly off balance. If there was
show society for a few days. By the end the
wheel balancing for vehicles his boots certainly
Europeans will be telling me where to come
needed balancing, maybe a new sole and
with what carvings to bring. Do you know that
heels.
those people that oppress us with their
Whitehead government have a way of At this rate they made him look crippled
determining prices higher than I normally which he wasn’t walking like a child who had
offer?” rickets. He was meanwhile clapping his hands
before a white farmer who had been passing
“Okay let’s negotiate.”
through where he was working. Underneath
“Masvosva, I have pieces to finish.” the overall, Masvosva had a short and short
Kangira had dismissed his neighbour. “There is sleeve shirt. The farmer he was talking to had
one I am making for one of the Europeans for green shorts with elastic waist and a single
free. His missus will have that one. She is the pocket at the back.
one that gave me the steel framed bed and
He had tucked in a short sleeve shirt. He
mattress that made me the first in my home
had a wide brimmed hat on his head. In the
boomerang boomerang
pocket at the back he normally took out a Smoke rose in pillars. The farmer took his
tobacco porch while he had a sling around his pipe to his moth drawing highly before
neck from which was hung a pipe. He smoked exhaling as if he was a man on death’s door
the pipe at will. clamouring for breath.
“Why can’t you lead me to this

picaninny?” asked the farmer. Why didn’t he
choke in the grey rings of smoke rising from his ___________________________________
pipe?
“These are rural areas master where if

“Kangira.”
you are seen without permission by the district
commissioner _______.” Masvosva was huffing.
“I can get permission if you know where “That is me the wood carver.”
this carver lives because I want his carvings.”
Masvosva had been walking very fast
“He refused the price you named for up the rise behind which Kangira’s huts lay far
the elephant,” Masvosva side stepped the removed from those of his siblings. The very big
reply. tree that Kangira had used some oxen to haul
had produced the elephant bull with his tusk in
“Maybe I should talk to him baas to a
the air smelling for danger, females, another
boy like I do with you,” the farmer said. “That
herd or a lone bull willing to dispose him as
would reduce a lot of clutter.”
alpha male. The top part had produced an
“I will tell him you offered enough to eagle feasting on a rabbit.
buy him four goats last time.”
Kangira did not like sibling rivalry
“Raise it to seven goats.” especially when siblings younger than him had
married earlier than he. When the wives found
“Yes bwana.” time to tussle he was included being as single
as he was. The wives would mention in full view
boomerang boomerang
of the whole village that maybe Kangira “Old-smoke-stacks, the European dairy
needed to marry a woman with a bus full of farmer wants the elephant. He says three goats
children because he was incapable of being now.”
interested in women.
“Sorry I am not selling to a white guy
They had called him a village queer that cheap.”
who would die without a wife, without a child
and dependant on the generosity of his “Three goats! Are you crazy?”
brothers’/sisters’ or half-brothers/sisters children
“Tell him from me to come and sit on
or grandchildren. They had sworn they had
that stool. He can see my handiwork,” Kangira
seen it happen somewhere.
replied. “I will negotiate with him on my own. If
At the last tussle between two women the English is a bother I will call the school head
of the same sibling, one of the woman had teacher to assist. If he wants to come by bus I
suggested even if she was given a week with will fetch him in my 3-speed bicycle that I
Kangira she would come out like a nun. acquired from Marandellas last time I was
Kangira was known to be the reserved type there. It goes singing like a small canary bird.”
that did not take part in family politics
“But ______but ______,” the other
especially squabbles. When the nun had been
stammered. “Kangira no wonder why
mentioned in his ears he had played the
everyone calls you a loner. You don’t see
disappearing act going behind a round hut
another person’s point of view.”
down the dale, out and away.
“Does it hurt him to come, sit there and
A nun perhaps?
talk?” asked Kangira. “Do you mean to say this
He did not play games with married European has no sitting apparatus?”
women no matter how they tempted him. Was
“I will see what I can do.”
he a queer one that shied away from
womenfolk? “You can tell him gently that his stock
rules Rhodesian but I, Kangira, rule my carvings.
“What?”
The area around my homestead is my own little
boomerang boomerang
Rhodesia where no queen or Huggins or wanted it seen that they could launder clothes
Welensky rules. Of course he can smoke as for their husbands, mend them and iron them.
much as he wishes in my presence. Only the Without a woman Kangira did this himself
queer ones rule the roost here.” except if a female relative came overnight to
visit.
He had to select his clothes for the day

__________________________________ and those for changing on the following day
including a casual jacket and neck tie. He did
not forget to include two sets of fresh socks for
Kangira rode the bus into town. the journey and the next day after which they
could be washed. He did a rarity cleaning his
Going to town was an occasion which teeth with toothpaste otherwise he used
started very early while it was still dark. It meant certain bushes which had a stingy taste in the
waking up early. He put water in a steel pail mouth but they did the same job. The fluoride
before a wood fire. It was cold outside. He had toothpaste left a sweet smell. His customers did
to take a bath while seeing what he was doing not like to see yellow teeth with plaque. He
by using a spirit or kerosene lamp whose smoke included a brown hat on his list of things to
did not augur well for him. After this he had to carry.
select well ironed clothes which the cast iron
with holes had ironed. One or two live ambers The causal jacket would be under his
were put into the cast iron before the rest of arm while a suitcase with steel reinforcements
the cold charcoal was loaded inside. The lid would be appropriate to ferry what he wanted.
would be closed and fastened. What couldn’t fit in was rolled in sack cloth and
ferried by scotch cart to the bus stop. Lastly he
The iron was then raised by the hand secured his hut knowing he had made
and moved 180˚ inducing fresh air to blow arrangements with two nephews to sleep
against the live charcoal. After a few twists of overnight to prevent rural burglaries.
the arm the charcoal would start smouldering
giving out heat which was used to iron clothes. The bus stop was the centre of
This was the prerogative of the womenfolk who attraction as those seeing them off were more
boomerang boomerang
than those getting on the bus. The reception before he reached the town. At times the bus
on coming back was more of curiosity to see edged uphill at a pace which could be
who alighted from the bus especially visitors not matched by a man walking briskly. At times
known to the locals. These would give hints to there was the sound of gears changing and
the local people on who was rumoured to be failing to engage. Then there was a sound that
getting married. Children normally clogged the echoed within the bus from the front to the rear
bus stop to help ferry goodies of known until the gears engaged. At times there was the
relatives. Kangira was known to offer tokens of smell of burning rubber especially when going
biscuits and sweets. downhill towards a small bridge across a river.
This could be from brakes or the bus’s body
They met and ta+lked while waiting for working on the tyres when it was overloaded.
the bus. In winter the nearest villager or the first
one to the bus stop would light a fire and put At times the roads swerved, twisted,
some twigs which would be used by everyone dunked low or went up rises looking the
to keep their hands warm. Occasionally as opposite way. They could see the road again a
they chatted, they listened because vehicle few metres up a hill going in the opposite
traffic was rare on that dirty strip of a road. direction before the road would snake again
making an ‘S’. By the time it reached
They then would hear the rumble of the Marandellas he unconsciously knew every bus
bus engine or its whine as it negotiated a rise stop. He now knew most of the passengers with
before they saw the headlights if the sun was rare glimpses of new ones. He dusted his
not yet up. In most cases wheel balancing had clothes before seeking his sister’s child from
not been done hence the vehicle moved as if whose home he came from the next day into
the front wheels and rear wheels were treading town, well dressed with long set of trousers,
on different places even on a straight path ironed shirt, a jacket and neck tie.
which gave it a lopsided or sideways moving
look. “Kangira!” A Caucasian said when he
was announced.
He had given his seat to an older man
with a cane. It took him, almost two hours of “Yes baas, I am finished with the
turning and twisting bone cracking rural roads elephant, the warthog and the eland bull. I
boomerang boomerang
have started on the stork and the baboon with He was shown a seat where he
a maize cob in his hands looking for human remained while the white man attended to his
encroachment on his territory.” employees, other white people and to the
telephone. He greeted the other Europeans by
“You ate them all!” the term ‘baas’ or using a mixture of Shona,
English and Ndebele called ‘lapalapa’. He was
“I carved them all baas. There is a lot of
given tea and scones. Ha, that was a delicacy.
interest in the elephant from another white
Kangira smiled at the tea boy from his own
person,” Kangira replied. “There is an eagle
African stock. He knew the tea boy was taking
having his dinner though.”
it as an insult to serve another black person.
“No you don’t try and outsmart me. I Kangira didn’t smile because they were of the
have been good to you selling your stock to same race. He knew the tea boy was
other Caucasians as far as Durban,” the white perturbed that for wooden carvings he Kangira
man had said. could sit with Caucasians. If the tea boy’s
relatives wanted water to drink they had to use
Kangira had a hat under his armpit. He the back entrance.
stood at a construction site. He smiled
sheepishly at the Caucasian gentleman. No “Thank you sir.”
black man would pass a European while
“As we had agreed,” the white man
wearing a hat and would not remove it except
said to him at last. “I am giving you almost two
for the uniformed forces and security guards.
steers for the work.”
No black man would talk with a European
without removing the hat including security “And a goat baas.”
details both private and national.
“It was a steer and a half. I have upped
“Yes baas Whitehead.” it to two.”
“Come into the office,” Whitehead had “A female goat will breed very well sir.
invited. You know these goats. At times they mainly
produce two kids.”

boomerang boomerang
“Don’t call any of your livestock Moses

after me,” Moses Whitehead had replied to
which they had burst into laughter. Kangira
thought he would name one of the animals
Tea-boy to spite the office orderly who didn’t
like him.
“I am coming to your kraal this Saturday

to ferry those three,” Moses Whitehead had
replied. “I will write you a note which you will
take to the shop in First Street where you will
get polythene plastic sheeting to cover the
carvings. I have written the shopkeeper to find
some favourite groceries for you for Rhodesian
$5 to add to all that.”
“That is all right and thank you baas,”

Kangira said. “You are so good to me over the
years. Thank you especially for the advice not
to sell willy-nilly.”
“I will bring the cash-in-lieu of steers as

agreed.”
The elephant was well worth more than

three goats at that rate.
__________________________________

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piri (2)

boomerang boomerang
__________________________________ “By now had you married Kangira we

would be betting you would be the next chief.
You would be that because you are the oldest
male child from the first wife,” the other replied.
“The old horse is down. He has been
down for some time now. He used to lie down, “Let’s check this out,” Kangira
kick out and stand straight again on wobbly scratched his beard. “The issue is not about
feet before staggering. The old bones have marriage because if it was any married man
withered and waxed within the tattered flesh,” would assume the chieftaincy. Gone are the
someone said. days when you needed an assegai, a set of
bows and arrows to go and overthrow a chief
“Old horse?” queried Kangira. “What a
in order to assume the chieftaincy, take all the
eulogy you are speaking? You speak in
land, especially cattle and any young and
riddles.”
pretty wives of the deposed or any pretty
“The old chief is very sick,” another mature daughters too. We no longer do that
person had explained in terms more because it’s modern times. How did those old
understood by the general populace. “Are you people dispose of a chief by taking his young
a child that you can’t read riddles?” wives and mature daughters and marrying all
at the same time? That is mother and
“Really, I had heard of late he is not daughter.”
feeling very well. What can you expect from a
man that explains about the Ndebele warrior “That would be step-mother and step-
raids into Mashonaland?” daughter no blood ties except the step
mother’s children with the disposed chief.”
Kangira responded scratching his chin
hairs which were itching. Maybe he should “The late and rested chief, my
have used a lot of soap when he was washing grandfather had four male siblings from within
his face. This was the downside of removing his old man’s harem of six wives. The chief is the
facial hair that made him look like a cross youngest surviving one and the rest are down
between a Moslem and an apostolic sect and out. Maybe it is the turn of me and my
member. siblings or half-brothers now.”
boomerang boomerang
“What of the one who runs with the His uncle who had asked the question
wind?” asked another one. tried to pick up a rock but the nephew sat
within a group of other people. Other grey
“Mamhepo is far younger than me by haired men held his hand to prevent him
far.” throwing the rock.
“He is married too.” “But to make a mockery of uncle

Kangira is alright. The same to you becomes an
“What has marriage got to do with
insult?” another man asked. “Did uncle Kangira
chieftainship?” asked Kangira. “All there is
threaten to hit you?”
should be that the next chief will be from my
father’s first sons which happen to be me by “Is there anymore opaque beer? Who
the first wife. My father represents grandfather’s brewed this beer?“ someone asked.
first sons. After that the chieftainship will get to
the first son of my nearest male half-brother or “Why do you need to know who
surviving brother whatever is the case.” brewed the beer? Why don’t you just guzzle
like a Ford Anglia taking fuel? We are talking
“Can you be our chief without a wife? about the next chief not about beer.”
Would our female donkeys, goats and sheep
be safe?” someone asked. “Henry Kissinger is looking for these
good brewers.”
“Would someone please stop teaching
grey haired men about sex because that is all There was laughter to defuse the
they think about,” one of Kangira’s half-sister’s situation which had risen to tense levels.
sons said to laughter. “Uncle you talk of goats,
sheep, donkeys and female cows. Did you Order! We are talking of the
practise with them before you married your chieftainship here gentlemen. Those who like to
two wives?” think of their mothers’ milk go and eat
peaches, guavas or oranges elsewhere. This is
“You son of Marweyi, I will hit you.” serious business. If you haven’t cut your teeth
thinking vamoose.”

boomerang boomerang
surviving uncle, the last born in their father’s lot.

Had their father survived his elder brother, we
__________________________________ wouldn’t be making these considerations.”
“The first born of that line is Kangira the

man of the woods.”
“The chief’s council has met and
deliberated after the death of the chief. It has “Mapinga will be the new chief. We will
been three months without our substantive advise the district commissioner about this.”
chief. We had appointed his son Mapinga to
head the people for about six months. As you ”Mapinga is not the first born. The first
know there are negotiations to be made, tribal born from the senior wife is Kangira. Mapinga is
councils to be held and village meetings three years down the line from Kangira.
whose resolutions the chief should endorse. The Mapinga is from the third wife. What sacrilege
district commissioner wants us to come up with are you starting gentlemen? Why don’t you
the name of a substantive chief before long or add water when you drink? Instead of smoking
they will impose one on us.” direct, do like they do in Binga and use a bowl
of water. Further to which don’t smoke
“So what is your decision?” one old marijuana here. Think clearly and straight like
man with a blanket cast over his bony back an arrow released from its shaft.”
asked leaning on a cane. His beard and side
beard were off white. Age was changing the “Nobody needs a bowl of water we
colour of his hair to grey. Even the colours of his are not smoking marijuana but tobacco rolled
eyes were changing. in khaki paper. Does that bother you that we
smoke tobacco bought in packets instead of
“How many families are running for the cigarettes bought in packs too?”
chieftainship?” asked another sage.
“The chieftainship is now returning “Just check your packet maybe there
to the first born of the old chief the are marijuana seeds inside.”
grandfather’s family. The first born means
consideration is being made of the family from “Had it been Lobengula’s time you
which the Mamhepo, Kangira, Mapeto and accusing us of drugging ourselves would have
Mapinga come from. The dead one is their received a throwing spear into the heart.”
boomerang boomerang
“Your wish will never come true. I will out a tree carving _____,” the man saying so hadn’t
survive all of you misdirecting yourself finished when Kangira rose removing a curving
concerning Kangira and Mapinga.” mattock from where he was sitting. People
rushed to hold him down before he had thrown
“I support Machada’s statement. the mattock. “Who wants to be judged by a
Kangira is years older than Mapinga which I man better left to stay at home with
agree to as this old man Machada has said. woodpeckers? He should have the totem of
Mapinga is from the third wife because the the monkeys or the baboons that frequently
second had a litter of girls with two sons too climb up trees."
young for contention.”
“Are you saying Kangira is not worthy
“What of Mamhepo? Who is older because he is a good man with a set of tools if
Mamhepo, Mapinga or Kangira?” given a dead piece of wood? Haven’t we had
chiefs who had once been messengers of the
“Mapinga is older than Mamhepo while men without knees or tea boys? Haven’t we
Kangira is older than Mapinga. Mamhepo had chiefs who did other crafts besides wood
though is from the first wife as Kangira’s blood carving?” asked another sage.
brother. Mamhepo is more at home with his
beer, fishing for income, game poaching and “He spends all his time carving not
another woman in his bed. Give him a set of leading the people. Mamhepo if made a chief
drums and he will keep you entertained for will collect all the women from broken
sure. With that raucous voice he can sing very marriages or the loose with children. He will
well.” create a new tribe with all of them.”
“Now it becomes a crime for Mamhepo “Have you ever given Kangira the
to drink and have his women after his dance chance to lead the people?” asked another
and sing song routines? Don’t you call him one. “Why do we have departed chiefs from
every time there is a harvest because of his oral history with different traits including one
impressive skills at the tall drums and dancing who had the penchant for making six of his
including leaping over the drums themselves?” half-sisters pregnant?”
“Kangira is a woodsman, Who wants a “That one was using black magic. He
set of people being run by a man who stays in was under the control of black spirits. He wasn’t
boomerang boomerang
human that is why he walked and did rites at ”That is an insult,” Kangira had replied.
night.” “You of all people adamant at offering me
what I should be offering you? That is mockery
“He wasn’t human but we have his in the wildest sense. If you and the
descendants in here in this constituency.” downtrodden chief’s council think I am not fit
to be chief Kangira of Goromonzi district, fine.
“If you are so good at criticising Kangira Keep your village committee headship, village
why are you perched on your backsides on a headship or kraal head whatever you call
stool he made?” asked the same grey haired them.”
old man. “How many tassels and arguments
have you seen Kangira being involved in “You are insulting the chief’s council
despite the insults that you push at him for now,” someone suggested.
being single? Have you ever seen him dipping
his head into a calabash of beer or standing “They have no balls _______.”
beside the road with a widow or divorced
woman?” “Kangira!”
“He was paid for this stool I am sitting “They have tails instead of heads
on. Besides if I see him with my wife at night I ______.”
fear not because he doesn’t have the
capacity ______.” “Hey!”
“Hush, hush” one of the older people of “Gonoremvuu,” Kangira was livid with
the council said. “Let us and Kangira sit down rage. He pointed with a shaking finger. “You
and discuss. Cool down the tempers otherwise shut up. You have usurped the council’s
the chief’s council will expel you from here. decisions. You are an intruder chased away
Your decision or your vote won’t count after from Mutoko for underhand issues at night. You
that.” delve too much into black magic so you think
we are afraid of your spirits visiting us at night?
Later. Are you not a descendant of a woman who
was used by her half-brother for a wife? Do you
“Kangira, I offer you the village sub- see any broom and winnowing basket you can
head,” Mapinga had offered.
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fly in at night? Is this a meeting of wizards to here. If you can speak with your tail coming out
you?” of your mouth that is your own funeral but I still
warn you to hold your fiery tongue. People said
“But you will still be working with me you are the silent type, is this your breed of
more than up those dry trees of yours,” silence shouting obscenities and secrets?”
Mapinga had replied.
“Stuff the headman ship into you’re
“Watch your mouth Kangira,” one of a!@#$%,” Kangira rose. “Better still offer it to
the elders said. “You two what has gone into those who talk a lot to other men and those
your heads?” that whistle at women!”
"You, Mvemve don’t come here telling “Hah?”

me to behave. Your son was not dead six
months when you started creeping into his Kangira went off past the fields of
wife’s quarters. What do you call that which mellowed dry maize stacks. He reached a
you produced, a daughter or a shallow well near where there were green
granddaughter? Now you tell me what to vegetables being grown. He stopped looking
say?” Kangira asked. “Who is a worst sacrilege around for a gourd to help him quench his
me and my virgin bachelor status and you with thirst. He had eaten too many roast peanuts
a daughter in law whose breast you suck?” and roast green maize.
There were times when it was better to “Kangira”

be silent, gentlemen, these were the times.
“Ah, mai Kudzanayi, how are you?” he
“Hey gentlemen I am now the chief. replied.
Everyone including Kangira has to respect me.
The first way is to leave our dirty secrets where “Are you looking for someone?”
they belong. Nobody asked you Kangira to
broadcast. Is that why you don’t talk to other "I was looking for something to use to
men and worse women?"’ drink water,” he had replied truthfully.
“People have fought wars over “Not my younger sister Gloria.”

chieftainships. We are trying to cool tempers
boomerang boomerang
“Yes you can call her after my share of “So what will you be?”
water, yes.”
“A village head.”
“So, should I call her?”
“I can’t be a headman’s wife. Better off
“Yes thanks,” he had replied. to be the teacher, Cliff’s wife.”
When he had drunk he sat down and “I am serious. I have the livestock for
waited. Soon he saw a young woman marrying you.”
appearing holding a tin container of about
twenty litres in volume which at one time had “No Kangira. I will be Cliff’s wife. Was
engine oil. It had been smartly cleaned with a there anything else you needed?”
circular hole on the top. She was singing. She
was short and a little fleshy with wide rolling “Where was Cliff when we were talking
eyes like the hills in misty weather. under the moonlight?”
“Is that you Kangira?” “No you were busy with your carvings
while Cliff was whispering stories in my ears.”
“Gloria, how are you?”
__________________________________
“Ah, Kangira I see you.”
“I heard you were in.”

“Kangira, I am sorry about what the
“What is it Kangira you hardly find time chief’s council did in choosing a younger half-
to talk to me these days.” brother to you for the lucrative post of moving
the people forward. Had we maintained
“I want to marry you.”
the Ndebele style it would have been easy and
“You lost the chieftainship, didn’t you?” straight forward. The first son from the first wife
inherits the chieftainship,” he had said.
“Those are a crazy bunch of council
who misinterpret the customs.”

boomerang boomerang
“The Ndebele were kings not a set of “Thanks Kangira. I advised you about
chiefs like us. Chiefs come under a royal three months ago that there is a rural area
household where there is a king.” accessible through Rusape where there is a
chief who has heard of your curving skills. I
”Ah, I see you Kangira.” grew up there I know this kind hearted chief
and his people. He has shown interest in your
"I see you Moses,” Kangira had replied.
work.”
It was much unlike him to be sitting
“For the time being I only go into the
under a large mahogany hardwood tree on
woods to worry about my loss. I am in between
the fringes of his property picking his teeth with
just doing nothing or just walking in the woods
nothing in his hands. Men were commiserating
avoiding people especially women looking for
with him. Kangira chose his words well because
firewood. I avoid those at all costs. You talk to
the same men could as easily be feeding his
one and she goes telling all the village women
words to the chief. They would be taking words
at the water pump that she saw me crying
from the chief and his new council back to him
when all I did was blow my nose.”
making news out of nothing.
“Kangira, don’t age yourself too much.
The chief was keeping tabs by making
Mapinga is now moving with Gonoremvuu, our
friendship with a male sorcerer like
most feared male sorcerer and charmer who
Gonoremvuu who was much feared. Unless he
was ejected from Mutoko for black magic
wanted visitation at night by spiritual issues,
underhand dealings. Any wrong move and you
Kangira chose his words well. Mapinga had
will be buried. You tussle with him you will start
started appointing his cabinet by retiring some
seeing snakes in broad day light.”
old grey haired and taking their children in
place of them for customary reasons. There “Moses I didn’t just loose the
was a lot of walking to be done. The posts chieftainship. The women I wanted to marry
though ceremonial had added benefits of eloped for someone else while another now
honour and first preference in certain terms. bulks at marrying someone rejected from the
chieftainship. While the first one told me to

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marry first she was seeding babies with another large eucalyptus, gum or fir trees my friend. You
man,” he had replied. know my mother and father separated when I
was young. She took me to Makoni which is
“You can reflect on that down in where I grew up most of the time.”
Rusape while the chieftainship battles die
down. Everyone is afraid you can take an axe “Start all over about this chief and the
and hack someone down. They have never district that he directs.”
seen you spewing so many words or raising
your voice so much. Even the siblings or half-
brothers’ wives who used you for a joke are ____________________________________
afraid of a raw hide whip from you now.”
“A rural area in Rusape?”
“Yeah just outside Rusape to the north

or north east heading into the hills.”
“Tsanzaguru?”
“No, Makoni rural is between Rhodes

Nyanga National Park and Rusape. You
remember that area where because of the hills
within the highlands the winters are very chilly
such that our normal trees grow to dwarfs
there? You remember the large tract of land
given to Cecil John Rhodes who pushed out
the locals?
“On the land they started plantations of

trees and a national park which is preserved up
to today. Close to that, within a wide radius
stays this chief I am talking about. They grow
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tatu (3)

boomerang boomerang
____________________________________ school. You avoid that too by turning towards

the direction the sun rises in the morning. The
homestead is behind that school which has the
same name as what you seek.”
He dropped from the rickety bus that
plied the route. The bus rattled and shook “Thank you. Do you happen to have
emitting black smoke as it lifted off the bus stop water?”
heading further into the interior. He put his hat
back on his shaved head lifting his trunk with his “No, I just have my twelve stones and a
tools from whence he started walking after catapult. You will get some in the river.”
asking for directions at the local shops. Though
it was cloud cast, he felt warm as he walked. “Thank you.
The trunk was heavy yet he had no He hoisted his issues that consisted of a
option. He did not know anyone otherwise he suitcase and his tools heading down the path
would have left it at the shops to be collected towards the river avoiding the school as had
later on. He had a small bag slung over his side. been mentioned by using a short cut. Near the
He kept exchanging the trunk from the left to river he saw two young men eating something
the right hand pausing for breath. The hat on from a pouch. There was a depression from
his head was removed when he met women where he was from which emerged a footpath
folk. The cloudy weather did not help matters punctuated by rocks which stopped drain
much because he was sweating profusely. He water from erosion. He was feeling both hungry
asked for directions further down. and thirsty.
“Go down that path towards the river He greeted the youths. He asked for
and up. That which we are seeing from here is directions.
the homestead. You see that umbrella like tree
“Who is this man to you?” one of the
let’s go left counting two large trees. That
young men asked.
whitewashed large house belongs to the
compound you are inquiring of. You won’t miss “I heard he asked for me.”
it. What you see in blue colour to the east is a
boomerang boomerang
“What is your trade if we may ask?” the bodies from the top of their bosoms down. The
other asked. cloths had seen their days with dents and holes
here and there. Their knees seemed to move
“I am called Kangira. Woodcraft is my sideways as they made it up the steep rise.
trade and staple feed.” Their heads seemed to bob up and down.
These cloths showed they were wet, meaning
“Yes, they mentioned your name
either they had been bathing, doing laundry or
somewhere. Maputi, carry the elder man’s
both.
luggage and I will round up our cattle.”
They greeted the two, their knees
“Okay Never, you are always bossing
bending in respect. One seemed short going
me around.”
on being stout with an emerging rounded
“Didn’t you say you were as strong as medium heavy bust while the other had a
an ox the other day?” mango face. The short one had a wide
undercarriage, greater than that of the taller
“Never mind if I said that to you. I had one whose bosom looked like it had been
had too much mahewu.” carved from the wind running down a steep
mountain towards a precipice.
Kangira asked for water. Maputi
stopped before the river and hollered. She was tall. She had shoulders that
could pull a few things on a village homestead.
“Hey girls, are you through washing and Her legs were long and thrust out. She was
decent? We want fresh water to drink and pass coming of age as a young woman. Her bust
through,” he said. was small to medium pointing like rifle pellets or
banana fruit looking up. Normally Kangira
“Wait a moment.” avoided looking at the chest of women or
mature girls but his eyes went down. The taller
A few minutes later two young maturing
one was slightly slender.
girls appeared climbing up the embankment
from the river. Though they were both dressed "Our esteemed gentleman visitor
they all had cloths wrapped around their requires a drink,” Maputi instructed.
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Kangira was offered a water melon by instructions to bigger boys he met to ferry
the shorter girl. He had taken water from a Kangira’s luggage. He was well received. He
gourd offered by the taller one. was provided with food first before water for
washing his sweat and dirt. In the evening he
"Water on an empty stomach is not sat down to await escort to the chief’s place
good,” the taller girl had said. where he met with his council. Someone else
had to escort him. They moved with their torsos
“Thank you so much. Are you sisters?”
bent while clapping their hands until they had
he asked.
taken their seats.
“No we are just a pair of good friends,”
The council of the chief also clapped
the shorter one said. Her voice was hoarse,
their palms until the visitors sat down. After that
maybe she had flu.
his escort showed him how to greet the chief
"This is Ndanatsiwa,” Maputi motioned by hierarchy and following that order until his
to the taller one with his hand. "The other one is word had reached the chief. It was quite
called Shashe. This is the wood carver the chief interesting. Kangira would send a greeting to
has been talking about." the escort who told the next higher ranking
who in turn told the next until the greeting from
"Glad to meet you sir.” the chief returned the same way with lots of
clapping and interjections of assent.
“Thanks so much Ndanatsiwa and
Shashe for the hospitality,” Maputi had said. “Many people have heard of your
curving skills,” the chief had said.
“Not to mention.”
"I have come.”
“Thanks a lot ladies for the reception,”
Kangira had said.
____________________________________
Maputi took him the rest of the distance
to the chief’s residence. He needed not carry
anything now because Maputi was shouting

boomerang boomerang
Why do they call you Maputi?” sat on one of his production sites. Kangira’s feet
Kangira had asked one day. He sat on a knoll. were wrapped around a log like a passionate
man in his prime. Kangira had a small knife
“My grandfather was given that as a between his teeth while he had been using an
nickname now it’s within our family.” axe like object to reduce the size of the piece
of wood. Before that he had stood surveying
“Oh, so what relationship is there with
the tree stump turning it over and over
Never?”
assessing its breath, weight, depth and height.
“Never and me are more like cousins.
He dropped the knife by letting his jaws
His father and mine are as good as siblings,”
relax.
Maputi had replied. He was watching the older
man working on what had been a tree. “Ah, the chief’s messenger, I see you
too.”
“What are you to the chief, Katokwe?”
“How are you sir?”
“My father is a village headman. He
was not there when you came on that day.” “Never been better, just working.”
“Maputi!” someone was calling. “It’s hot.”
“I am coming Never,” Maputi had run “One wouldn’t believe it’s just after
off. “If you had been born a woman Never we winter.”
would have had a scandal.”
“Yes. I am looking for my livestock. Seen
any in this forest?”
___________________________________ “To the east is where I saw a brown bull
with a hump on his back, about a mile down
there. Maybe he has smelt a cow that has a
“Kangira, I see you,” someone said calf that was weaned.”
standing near a knoll up a hill where Kangira
boomerang boomerang
“Did you see the one with spots on the be another standing in the shadows to tell the
tail?” chief of your choice.”
"Yes that one." “They talk about?”
“Thanks a lot neighbour.” “Whether you are queer one who does
not want a woman beside him. None of them
“Not to mention. By the way step has accused you of a leery eye or squeezing
closer.” their bottoms or their tits. These women of
marrying age normally meet at points like the
“Sure,” the other man said picking his
grinding mill, the river to wash or bath, the dip
way through the dry grass and branches. He
tank with their stock, the school for church
had been a hunter when wild animals had
services or collection of water and the bus
been many. He avoided branches. Maybe he
stop. They exchange the latest information of
had learnt the art in the industries walking past
who was seeing whom or who is walking with
sleeping guards without a sound while taking
whom of marriageable age. They sing songs
company merchandise home. Noise was the
about their betrothal to be or suspected to
point for arrest and instant dismissal.
come. None has sung of you.”
“What does it mean when the chief
“No, I got turned down by two women
sends a woman wrapped in cloth carrying
before I left my village plus there were words
water to my site?”
spoken after the chieftainship wrangle. I was
The other man burst out laughing. still mourning to start looking at available
females here. Besides I don’t believe in
“You are laughing at me.” throwing seed around,” Kangira had replied.
“Tell me more.”
“My friend,” the other said. “It shows the
chief wants you to marry. You have been too “How many women has he sent?”
lonely Kangira these women talk. He sends a
woman with a cloth wrapped around her “Two.”
clothes carrying water on her head. There will
boomerang boomerang
“The custom is he sends a woman or “Thanks a lot messenger of the chief.”

women wrapped in a cloth with your bath
water. If the woman is a girl, he means get “Not to mention. Besides when the chief
married. If she is a local single mother he does that there are rules concerning the
means get some romance. Cast out some women or girls offered.”
seed maybe it may germinate. He normally
“Is it?”
sends two of them of different make up so you
can make a choice. You are a man look “You don’t become intimate then eject
around instead of having blind dates thrown at the woman or girl the next morning. He sends
you. You choose which of the women you like. you these ladies for you to choose. If you select
You take her to rub your back as you bath. some or one and leave the other, the other
Afterwards you have a wife.” tells the chief what transpired. The chief will
send the selected girl or girls’ parents an ox
“I thought so.”
each as a token of marital appreciation. You
“The chief likes you a lot.” will meet the other costs like a goat and cloth
for your in laws.”
“I heard so.”
“That’s complicated.”
“You are a quiet one Kangira.”
“It’s not very complicated. You are
“I know one of them who were sent said allowed to view them with a lantern in the
she has a child from a broken marriage. I am night as they kneel before you. There will be a
not picking up loose luggage.” mature woman in the periphery that won’t
come into your yard in case the chief has sent
“You can choose the woman or one girl whom you fancy. Whatever he sends is
women you like and approach them. They will picked from the best and responsible families.
solve a lot of problems. Let me check on my He won’t send you those that have turned into
livestock. Had it been me, given a damsel by evening entertainers in the mines, towns or in
the chief, land and all your attention, hey Salisbury or Umtali to name a few.
things would have happened!”

boomerang boomerang
She will do the reporting. You cannot He returned to the piece of wood. This
also handle their backsides or their feeding was his joy and started working out the rough
apparatus until you select whom you want. edges so that when he carried it down it
You can’t even detain them overnight even if wouldn’t weigh much. In the evening he
you don’t become intimate. It will be descended from his patch carrying today’s
tantamount to intimacy and will be treated as trophy. The sun was setting. At a certain level
a marriage. If you turn them all away, each he could see women and girls on a rock face
one will cost you a goat.” by the river speaking in loud voices.
“Thank you for the information He stood and watched. There was
Mutumwa.” nothing wrong. Those bathing carried their
water into the grassy thickets to cover their
The other man picked his way down. He nakedness and stop soapy water from
found a foot path on which he increased reaching the river proper.
speed. Kangira scratched his beard thinking on
the revelations. The village women thought he Whom of these would the chief send
was queer, right? The men thought he was next?
queer too? Those in Goromonzi had seemingly
rejected him from the chieftaincy because he _________________________________
liked wood carving more than arguing about
customs and traditions.
Kangira had a local stone mason
They had probably rejected him
create three round huts with a diameter of
because he refused to accompany them at
about three and a half metres each which
night when they went appeasing area spirits.
another craftsman had thatched to standards
Mostly they thought he was queer. Right? Did
that made people passing by stop and look.
he need to prove that he was or he was not?
One he used as a kitchen especially when it
No, he did not need to live on someone’s
rained. The other he entertained visitors. It had
imagination. He was a different human being.
six wooden curved chairs and some that had
That was why he had a name different from
the rest.
boomerang boomerang
been made from reed by another craftsman were creating a brisk business though they liked
good at weaving reeds. to haggle and cut him down.
These reed bucket chairs totalled eight "Kangira I see you."

which could take in a lot of people. The other
had a cowhide in the middle, blankets neatly ”Mutumwa how is your family?”
arranged on one side and his clothes on two
“The family is all right. I heard you were
wires strung from four poles.
in Rusape?” the other asked.
He had had the huts’ rock covered by
"I had gone to see a Caucasian about
earth mixed with clay in different hues of colour
some of my carvings which I presented there.
taken from rocks crushed in mine activities. The
The Caucasian market brings me goodies like
door frames were his speciality which came
the order bicycle that I ride and the clothes
from local gum tree poles curved and fitted
you see.”
well. The doors were crudely fashioned by
presentable. They were made from drums Unlike his custom, Kangira had risen to
flattened down. They had hooks that he used come to the footpath walking side by side with
for locking when he was moving out. The rains Mutumwa.
had no effect on the metal drum turned doors
when they were well painted. Termites liked the "Look at those three breeding cows
wood in any form hence his were blackened coming,” Mutumwa said stopping in the road.
with oil that repelled these creatures.
"What is so peculiar about three
The floors were rammed earthen which women?” asked Kangira. “Do you want them
required cow dung to be dressed to prevent to wear wooden boxes over their bosoms and
dust. This tedious task he paid someone to do their behinds so you won’t comment?”
once in a while. Windows had been fashioned
on two sides of each of the huts by square The women were moving and stopping
pieces of logs with drum cutting being opened sharing a story forgetting about the world. Two
to give light and air in the morning. He was wore floral dresses while one wore skirts and t-
very busy with his wood carvings. The locals
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shirt. One had a cloth wrapped around her knees. They talked about life before going their
waist. different ways.
“Look at the hips and the bosom of the When he had seen Mutumwa off giving
middle one, without the cloth and wearing a himself a break he came up the rise towards his
dress with green spots” Mutumwa had said homestead in an entirely opposite direction an
ogling from a distance. hour and half later. He went through his fields
that were still going through preparations.
“The hips are to bring the baby out. The What he sold is what he paid for draught
bust is for feeding the baby so what’s so power, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, technical or
interesting? Why do you bother looking at agricultural assistance help and labour.
both?”
“I like them when they become

mothers. They realize they are no longer as _________________________________
marketable as they were when they were girls.”
“If you don’t watch it, some man will

put an axe between your buttocks.” Mutumwa on his way met a short and
slim woman whom he had known for some
Kangira and Mutumwa greeted the time on his footpath.
women who were crossing paths with them. In
customary respect the men went one side “Hello my good and fair lady.”
while the women the other. The women were
“Hello old man,” she replied.
called by their children’s names while the men
by their totems or titles. Everyone was calling “I am still young not that old. Why are
Kangira by the local dialect for a wood carver, you standing by the side of the road? Whose
maybe they meant woodpecker? Because daughter are you?”
they knew each other handshakes were
exchanged while the women dipped their “Nothing just resting from the heat, is it a
crime?”

boomerang boomerang
“Whose daughter are you anyway?” "Old man I see you very well,” one
young man said when Kangira emerged from
“I am Emma, the daughter of the the fields.
grinding mill operator.”
“Never, how are you?”
“I could, if given half a chance make
you a mother of three babies in four years,” he "I will ask the same of you. I and Maputi
replied. “I have enough goats to settle with with Shasha passed by but you were not
your father.” around yesterday evening. I am lucky to bump
into you now.”
“So?”
"I had gone to Rusape to follow on my
“I am such a good breeder I am looking sales.”
for a breeding cow.”
"Okay. Shashe wanted to thank you for
“Good,” she replied. “Hold on and tell the stools you fashioned for her and her friend
my husband, Stewart!” Ndanatsiwa. It’s not proper for a young woman
her age to visit your bachelor quarters so I had
Mutumwa heard rustling from a bush
accompanied her. Ndanatsiwa had a running
nearby where a man was emerging from
nose. She couldn’t come in her condition. She
taking his relief. By the time the man had
was complaining of a headache as well."
properly fitted his belt, Mutumwa was a
hundred metres away. His feet were digging ”Never, tell me between you and
into the soft earth. For a middle aged man he Maputi, who are Shashe and Ndanatsiwa to
had speed and sudden business to attend to. you both?"
"Maputi is a friend of mine. Our fathers

are good friends. When my father comes from
________________________________
his messenger job at the District Commissioner’s
office and Maputi’s comes from the Rhodesia
Railways, they take time to chat between the
two of them. We are good friends too.”
boomerang boomerang
"Where do Ndanatsiwa and Shashe mature maidens into prospective bachelor

come in? I have seen you with them." territory.
"Ndanatsiwa is Maputi’s maternal aunt’s “Yes if you like to dance you can
daughter. That way to me she is a relative in dance. If you like just mingle and chat up the
the same fashion as a young sister of my own,“ girls, young mothers or the men folk. Beware of
he had replied. "Shashe is the meanwhile is not the hostile brothers they don’t like us getting
related to any of us. She is the daughter of a their sisters into bushy spots at night or into
very good friend of Maputi’s maternal aunt. It’s abandoned huts either. Jealous brothers guard
going to be full moon soon. She is a good the virtue of their sisters more than husbands
friend of Ndanatsiwa. I hold her like a sister of with flirting wives guard their prizes.
my own."
“They the jealous brothers forget that
“So, full moon ________.” they also chase after other people’s sisters or
daughter. Chief Katokwe does not take kindly
“There will be a dance at the chief’s to having single people caught in bed at such
homestead. You should come elder father a venue. If you are caught in that
Kangira. That is where the young men show off compromising position the chief will be the
their dancing skills to get the young unmarried presiding officer at your first marriage
women and senior maturing girls. The men who ceremony. You might get a hiding if you are
are looking for another set of wives look for the too young for marriage. If you are caught with
single mothers with potential or the divorcees. a married woman then several cattle have to
Don’t ever go for a woman with a husband at exchange sides.”
home or away you will get the axe in the
buttocks.” “See you at full moon or before then.”
"Oh?" Kangira said. Full moon dance "Okay older man,” Never continued on
parties were his younger brother Mamhepo his way.
had made his bread, butter and reputation.
However, there and then, no chief was sending _________________________________

boomerang boomerang
ina (4)

boomerang boomerang
________________________________
In the east the moon rose majestically. It

was yellow at first growing in size as it
unsheathed from the mother’s pouch. It rose
higher seeming to grow backwards in size to its
original position. Now the yellow colour was
cast away like a grasshopper taking off its
former skin. Its evening radiance began. On
the full moon gathering Kangira appeared two
hours after darkness carrying a small khaki
pack on his shoulder.
He had fashioned a stick over his

shoulder from which hung the pack by its
pockets. The stick was forked at the end
meaning the pack had no way of sliding out of
his grasp. One day the forked stick would be a
well carved walking stick. He sought out
Maputi while Never was dancing with the other
boys.
“The four of you,” Maputi had handed

the pack. “Measure out which is which and
which is appropriate for the gentlemen.”
“Thank you my father.”
Kangira had danced alongside other

people before the chief addressed the people
boomerang boomerang
telling them the prospects of the future He sat down in a stool which Kangira
including a new strip tarred road to replace the had fashioned out of a dead tree trunk. He sat
gravel one so that European visitors would in it because his whole body fitted inside the
proceed to view mountains and the lakes hole in the curved tree. He was using his fly
being created. He talked about a fish called whisk looking at what was happening from a
trout which would be introduced in mountain high rise which Kangira had created by fusing
streams so that fishermen with permits would logs, bolts and nuts.
come to fish. Then fishlings would be released
every year after the rains. It was expected that He did not see both Never and Maputi
the villager poachers would desist from taking trying their leather sandals bought in Rusape
away state revenues. neither did he see the girls, Shashe and
Ndanatsiwa wearing canvas shoes that
“Do the poachers hereby present Kangira had brought as presents. The girls tried
agree to stop poaching trout?” the chief had their new cloth wrappers tying them slightly
bellowed. “If you poach you will be stealing above their breast line or the waist watching
the revenue of the Sir Godfrey Huggins the effect.
government of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. We
won’t sing God save the queen for you when The chief saw Never pulling Maputi to
you stand on trial.” talk to Kangira. He remembered it was these
boys who had brought the carver in when he
There was a lot of laughter with bellies had first arrived. Then he saw the trio leaving.
moving in and out, teeth showing in the moon He spied two young girls maturing with age
light. Some names were called out. There were who were causing young men sleepless nights
owl hoots, cheers, hand claps and whistles approaching the trio. They knelt down and
from the gathered populace. clapped their hands thanking Kangira for
something or other.
“You can now dance, drink and eat the
whole night. Let us see the bulls and cows that The group stood talking before the boys
will still be awake early in the dawn.” joined the melee and menagerie on the
dance floor where dust was rising like winter

boomerang boomerang
cold. The two girls remained standing on either “He does not like men dying while still
side talking to Kangira. single. The custom is to catch a number of rats
to put in the grave which is a handful,” Shashe
“Why does the chief select women had replied. “He believes no rural home of
after this dance to send to people like me?” stature should fail to have a wife.”
Kangira had asked.
“Then let me breed a colony of rats and
Both Shashe and Ndanatsiwa burst out mice. It’s so easy they require stockpiles of
laughing. maize stalks. That way more of the men can
remain bachelors.”
“When you laugh at an older person
you are disrespecting,” Kangira advised. Both girls burst out laughing.
“No, no, on the contrary,” Shashe had “You are laughing?”

replied. “It is very difficult to answer that
question.” “Sir, every grown male must have a wife
so the chief is just saying he likes you take a
“So what happens?” wife from those he thinks you like,” Ndanatsiwa
replied. “We are rural. There are chores for a
“The chief likes to be a romantic
wife like cleaning, sweeping, cooking and
father,” Ndanatsiwa replied. “He won’t send
washing of clothes or their ironing. Besides that
anyone but those he had seen you conversing
a man requires a helping hand when the rains
with who are not married or are not attached
come to till the land, apply manure or fertilizer,
to somebody. That shows he respects the
ridge if necessary and see to the animals.
person he is doing that by picking the best of
Generally every household requires the
the marriageable age women or mature girls.
presence of a woman and a man.”
He does that to people who have exhibited
very good behaviour who showcase the area’s “So I could look for my sister’s daughter
talents or culture.” or my brother’s daughter then?” he asked.
“Why?” “Maybe,” Shashe had replied.

boomerang boomerang
“When is he likely to do it again for village knows Kangira is not queer. Is there any
me?” harm in choosing between friends?”
“We haven’t yet heard the rumour and There was laughter from both girls. Was
at times we don’t. We hear of it when his right it hysterical? Standing between the two, he put
hand man starts asking questions,” Shashe had his hands on both their shoulders. None
replied. “Usually within ten days after this removed his hand. Which one was it going to
dance.” be? It was also against custom for an
unmarried man to put his hands on the
“Why hasn’t the chief seen that I am shoulders of an unmarried or married woman
very friendly with both of you?” he had asked. whatever the case was unless she was his sister
“I think I need to tell the chief whom to send or mother.
with my water.”
“I think I will join the dancers,” Shashe
“I don’t know. I don’t want to know,” suggested.
Shashe had replied.
“Why not dance?” Ndanatsiwa replied.
“Neither do I want to be involved,” “The night is still young.”
Ndanatsiwa had replied. “I have had elder
men with wives approaching my father for my “Just before you go,” he held their
hand in marriage. I refused.” hands holding them back. “It will be one of you
so, behave. You are good friends of mine.
“Shashe,” Kangira had said. “How old Besides which, if the local boys had any
are you both?” designs, they can wait for my choice first
because I have the chief’s backing. Has any
“I am turning eighteen in June and
other told both of you that you are very
Ndanatsiwa is turning nineteen in November,”
beautiful especially at night? “
Shashe had replied.
“No,” Ndanatsiwa replied.
“I think I will tell the chief whom to send
next week,” Kangira had replied. “Then I will “And Shashe?”
choose between friends who will make sure the
boomerang boomerang
“None too,” they both lied. version free for me. However I will be waiting to
drink on both your beauties. I get drunk in your
“Well what a mixture of a short darker midst.”
skinned voluminous girl and a taller lighter
skinned slightly slender girl? The shorter one is as “Thank you,” Ndanatsiwa had said.
beautiful as the sunset. The taller one is as
lovely as the moon. The other is as lovely as “I will be waiting _______.”
grains of wheat. The taller one is as great as the
Both had joined the dances which
large grains of the maize plant. You are both
continued throughout the night. They now
like fresh milk in a gourd, ready to be drunk,” he
avoided him. It wasn’t for long. In time he was
had said pulling their heads close to his.
chatting with Maputi, Never and a few other
“If I sat with you here I look like a man in emerging men from different villages. Around
a haystack on a European farm who has no midnight he would walk the three miles to his
worries waiting for the moon to shine. In old place leaving the young people with energy
days, women like you were what made the and courage to fight sleep and tiredness.
Ndebele warriors kill their male enemies to get
He knew the girls had able escorts in
at. Thank God that we no longer have raiding
Maputi and Never. The rural life was free from
parties of the Ndebele coming here. We have
dangers of the night like marauding parties of
the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
muggers. Everyone knew the other hence
government instead with its police, district
crimes were quick to be solved. He had heat in
commissioners and European administrators.
his loins. Where had all those words come
Not all the beautiful women are found in
from? He had never talked to a girl or a
Matebeleland only.”
woman like that before worse of all to two of
“Sir, do you drink?” Shashe asked. them at the same time.
“Have you been drinking the local sorghum
and maize malt brew?”
_________________________________
“I take water in intermittent doses. Beer,
no I don’t. No one could supply the bottled
boomerang boomerang
The chief craned his head from his my patch. The walking stick broke into two. I
patch. He screwed his eyes further. They were advised Kangira to fashion a new one. I am,
not as sharp as they had been years ago. Or, not the one that will have a painful back for a
was it the sorghum and maize malt beer he month or two.”
had been taking?
“Check out those two girls standing on
“Majora!” either side of the wood carver. I hope the
shorter walking stick is not ticking now.”
“Yes my chief.”
"I am too old for that, my chief. One
“Come here.” short with a big bust and then other who is
much taller?”
“I was here besides you chief.”
“Yes. Why do you notice the bust?”
“Did you touch my beer keg?”
”Chief, I was given much milk. I know
“We were exchanging drinking from it
where my babies’ milk comes from. I have seen
my chief. If I don’t do that they may kill you
them much but in this moonlight I can’t tell
alone. If I exchange drinking with you both of
whose they are.”
us can die so that no one will say I put poison in
your beer, my chief.” “The big bust or the two girls we are
talking about?”
The chief pointed through the
moonlight. “I mean the two girls my chief.”
“Do you see the wood carver standing “Go and find out who they are. Get to
there?” know whose daughters they are. What is their
village? Who is its headman? Find out if they
“Yes I see him my chief. I greeted him
have been offered in marriage before. If you
when I was down there mixing with the people.
have to discreetly ask them then do so. Then
He made me a walking stick to use when I go
you will have a big keg of beer. Don’t look at
uphill. We caught a man stealing vegetables in

boomerang boomerang
their stomachs, upper legs, busts or their sitting The Europeans in Rusape had sold all
apparatus.” the carvings Kangira had brought. He came
back walking to his homestead planning in his
“Yes my chief. You are very generous mind. He had photographs of what the masters
with beer, beef, roast mealies and food. Had I wanted. One was of an eagle with its head
now been running around, up and down, I craned 180˚ degrees backwards sitting on the
would have rivalled you with a growing edge of broken branch. For that a Melsetter
stomach.” farmer was willing to pay a bull and a steer that
had just been weaned. It had to be as tall as a
“Yes, but don’t trip over backwards on
short man.
your stool like you did. I don’t trip on my own
chair” The other was of a lion crawling after
prey with his head down and tail down as well.
"I was stoned my chief. It’s a new style
The bones of its hips and fore legs had to be
of sleeping which I was trying out. Your chair is
sharply jutting out, its mane curving
wedged backwards.”
downwards. The last photograph was of a
“The other time you fell flat into a settler standing beside a large wheel of a
drainage ditch dead drunk Majora.” wagon. He needed a harrow, a plough, a
scotch cart, a span of oxen which he had
“I was walking looking backwards at already seeded in villages for herding and he
night my chief.” had a full homestead.
Find out and find out fast. Let’s see if the But there was no wife. That was odd by
village rumours are true that he is a queer rural standards. That was very queer. When he
one.” walked at night before dogs announced his
approach, he had heard people talking by the
fireside about a wood carver without a
woman. He would have liked to reply to the
_________________________________ voices that carried mostly at night or when it
had rained that he was not bewitched against
women.
boomerang boomerang
He would have liked to reply that he did replaced them with fruit trees like mango,
not curve using the spirits. He would have liked peaches, guava, lemon and oranges.
to respond that women were anathema to the
spirit being he used to make life from wood “Chief Katokwe, I had forgotten,” he
curving. There was no spirit being. If there was, said under his breath.
he was yet to know of it.
They stopped by the homestead edge
He arrived at his homestead when the and knelt down. He knew he was in trouble
sun was far down. He sat by the middle of the with the chief again. They started walking on
yard in one of the fashioned stools with a fire their knees towards him clapping their hands
nearby. He heard voices. He had eaten his making sounds. Half way they clapped their
staple food in Rusape in a café near the bus hands more aggressively. The chief had
terminus weary of hands searching his pockets. selected five women instead of a couple as he
Now he had been onto his second cup of tea, had done each time in the past three
a delicacy. He turned around to see the attempts. Was there a discreet mature woman
shapes of women carrying buckets on their standing in the shadows below his homestead?
heads without even holding them. Did the chief expect him to bath with five
buckets of water when one was more than
The footpath passed below his enough?
homestead about thirty metres away and
about nine metres down. No sane woman “May we arrive at your court?" One of
would be at a borehole, water well, river or them said.
spring at this time of the evening. Sundown was
“Peace, my sisters,” he had replied.
a sign that those that fetched water had to be
“May I enquire on your business?”
in their residences. Men who fetched firewood
did not look for these at night because they “We come in peace my young father.”
would very well carry within the wood pile a
brown or black mamba. They proceeded on their knees. He put
more wood into the fire which now gave a
These had left the footpath and were better light. One of them was tall and weighed
coming through an area he had cut trees and about seventy to eighty kilograms with a
boomerang boomerang
drooping but steady bosom for a young “Really, am I supposed to keep losing
woman. goats to the wise and elderly chief? The last
time I lost two goats now the chief wants me to
The other was short with sharp features lose five?” Kangira rose and entered one of the
on her face that glowed in the radiance of the round huts. He came back with a spirit lamb
light and stout with bigger hips was almost the that he lit on the fire ambers. “Who are you?"
same weight. The other was short with boyish
features, slim and tender like a small kid. He “I am Letwin. I live near the store."
had seen her somewhere but he couldn’t
make out where. “I am Aida the daughter of the tractor
driver Masarira.”
The next was also short with a weight
displacement of between forty and fifty “I am Linda the younger sister of Emma,
kilograms without any noticeable bosom like the daughter of the grinding mill operator.”
her compatriot. The other was not short or tall
“I am called Ndanatsiwa the daughter
with an oval face, a moderate bosom and
of the village sub-head.”
wide hips. She was light in complexion while
the set of short ones seemed a mixture of dark “I am called Shashe. My father works in
and lighter brown in complexion. The stout one Bromley.”
was moderately dark in complexion while the
taller one was a mixture of dark and light “Of the five of you, whosoever has a
ebony. child let them be free to go while it’s still light,”
Kangira replied moving against them with his
"Is everything all right?” he asked. lamp.
“The chief sends his regards,” the shorter “As long as you understand the rules of
one said. “He said you should choose whose the chief,” Letwin replied.
bath water you will take tonight. It will cost you
a goat for every one of us you send home if None of the women moved.
you don’t take any.”

boomerang boomerang
“Ah,” Kangira replied. “I will now call They clapped their hands getting to
upon my hornets, any that screams should their feet. He collected a metal bath tub from
leave.” his hut which had been fashioned out of 20-litre
containers of cooking oil. He walked to his bath
“The chief’s rules still apply,” Aida house using the spirit lantern. He showed it into
replied. the grass enclosure.
“When I first arrived, whosoever greeted He had shown his light where he had
me by a river where they had been washing placed the bath tin. The enclosure was grass
and they gave me water to drink and a thatch right up to about a metre and eighty
watermelon, remain,” Kangira said. centimetres. The whole area within he had put
in small pebbles that helped drain the water
There was silence. No one moved.
and prevent mud when he was bathing.
“Whosoever is related to two boys that
“There,”
helped me carry my luggage remain.
Whosoever has been greeting me with my sub- “Whose do we pour?”
totem remain.”
"If you don’t know your business, pour
Silence. your water on the ground and vamoose.”
“If you are not the sister of one Never or “That would be a sacrilege against the
Maputi you can leave.” chief. If you don’t want water you should have
led us out of your homestead on our knees,”
There were feet shuffling as three
the taller one said.
women stood up. They started tracking out of
the homestead. The shorter one poured her water into
the bucket. She removed her wrapper
“Come, get on your feet and follow me
preventing harm to her dress. In one
you two,” he had risen from his stool.
movement she removed the garment by
pulling it over her head. She soon stood naked
in the light. She weighed about seventy
boomerang boomerang
kilograms with firm backsides, a rounded belly Bath time took a long time full of
and ample feeding apparatus for babies’ to laughter. There was so much time to rub each
come. Kangira closed the grass door to the other’s backs and their appendages.
bath house.
The laughter carried to the villages
There was the sound of the other below.
container pouring. The taller one also took
away her wrapper. She pulled off her skirt then “Kangira has taken a wife,” someone
she followed with her blouse. She glistened in suggested.
the moonlight standing slightly shorter than
“Maybe wives,” someone said in return.
Kangira but taller than her mate. She too had
There was the smell of roasting green mealies.
young, healthy flesh added to which she had a
“You all talked of him being a queer now let’s
good rump with smaller shapes for baby
see when the babies start arriving if he is a
feeding.
normal like me. Had I been given a wife by the
Kangira removed his clothes slowly chief, she would be pregnant by now ____.”
because he would never be in a hurry again.
“Philip!” a woman called in rebuke.
He had all the time in the world to wash away
the disappointments of the chieftaincy and the “What mother of Mavis?” Philip asked.
two girls who had jilted him.
“Don’t you as men have anything else
“No one that is not queer is coming better to discuss? And you Jethro mature as
out,” Kangira had voiced. “Thank you for the you are and married too should have better
wise choice,” Shashe had said. adice for the likes of Philip.”
“You are elegant as a man,” “My brother’s wife, what is it?” asked
Ndanatsiwa had said. “We promise we won’t Jethro.
ever disappoint you.”
“Isn’t Netsai enough for you?” asked
“Great let’s see who rubs whose back Philip’s wife.
now,” he had said.
boomerang boomerang
"She is my brother’s wife,” Jethro had The boy did manly tasks for a boy like
replied. He whispered, “And the chief is rounding up goats, feeding the dogs, watering
herding two good bulls to the parents of both the garden and fruit trees. The girl did chores
while Kangira will meet the rest of the close to home under supervision of the adults.
mundane issues. If only it was me and you elder Both left early in the morning and returned mid
brother." afternoon from their school.
“If wishes were horses _________.” Both were helping each other to count
the goats before closing the kraal as he
“And the woman has ears ______.” reached the outskirts of the home stead. He
carried a sack on one shoulder. The two ran to
meet and greet him in different forms of the
____________________________________
word uncle.
Further into the homestead they went

Six months later he reached his with the children carrying the sack while he
homestead. There was the sound of a voice walked behind. Greetings were made with
near the kraals where someone was closing the Shashe kneeling to show respect. Her face now
kraal with logs to prevent the animals from looked almost square because her hair had
wandering at night. There was a fire in the been pulled back in gathers behind her head.
middle of the homestead where cooking was The hairline at the front was not as readable as
being done. before. When she smiled, the slight gap
between her two main teeth showed.
After he had taken on both wives on
the same evening, Kangira had resorted to Presently the taller frame of Ndanatsiwa
normal married life. His in-laws on both sides appeared. She knelt bringing her palms at right
had supplied him as was customarily with two angles as she greeted him by clapping them
children for running of errands. One was a boy several times. She asked after his day where he
aged around nine and another was a girl aged had gone the previous morning returning now.
around a year younger. She and Shashe also asked after their relatives
to whom he had quartered the previous
boomerang boomerang
evening. Ndanatsiwa’s hair was tied in bundles two within a few months of coming into this
on her head creating about six of them which area.”
had been done neatly by a good hand. They
were connected by twisted curls of hair spun “Baba,” Ndanatsiwa said.
around a black thread from one bundle to
“Yep.”
then other.
“The chief may send you another
These two were still inseparable though
woman with bath water,” Ndanatsiwa had
marriage should have brought them
said.
squabbles. Shashe spoke a lot while
Ndanatsiwa was reserved. He always identified “How do you know that?” Kangira
where the two were by the sharp resonate asked.
laughter of Ndanatsiwa or the short and fast
speech of Shashe. Shashe spoke with her "I have ears to the ground,” Ndanatsiwa
hands moving up and down while Ndanatsiwa replied. “I heard and I was told. You
was a good listener. occasionally go to Rusape to consult with
Europeans whom buy your cravings. Look at
"It will be full moon soon.” the rural places here. People subsist on fruit
trees and their harvests or they sell livestock
“Another dance party at the chief’s?”
they raise. We subsist on your carvings, our
he had asked.
harvests, our fruit trees are still growing and our
“Most certainly,” Shashe replied. livestock need destocking. Females see the
good life and opt into such a family pressured
“Do I need show my dancing prowess?” by their parents.”
Kangira outstretched himself. He began
dancing which led his wives to hoot with “And?”
laughter. He had been working very hard that
“The two of us are enough for you,”
day. “I remember it was that dance party
Ndanatsiwa replied. “Was there anywhere
which had me saddled with the two of you. But
were we were lacking?”
it was a blessing. I should have requested you

boomerang boomerang
“What if I want another wife?” asked want to hear stories of men creeping into my
Kangira. homestead when I am away.”
“Are we not that good the two of us?” “Kangira! It is you who could very well
asked Shashe. “We are still young and bring another wife from Goromonzi,”
presentable. There is no wife number one or Ndanatsiwa replied.
two. We are just your choices and one team. I
wouldn’t want a competing body to come for “I promise not to if you remain warm
us.” and kind,” he had replied. “You both look like
you are pushing wheel barrows. What
“So what happens?” he asked looking happened to you too?”
at the two through the kerosene lamp which
flickered when the wind picked up. The “We have the case of kwashiorkor
children had been laid to sleep. Both of them which has swollen our bellies,” Shashe had
sat on either of his side with Ndanatsiwa having replied.
her elbow on his tired legs.
“Supper first,” Ndanatsiwa had given an
“You have to find a way to tell the chief instruction.
that two wives are enough,” Shashe had
“After that we will all go to the grass
suggested.
enclosure for a bath. You will be like a baby as
"I will be going to my old rural area after we rub those aching muscles that carry logs
the dance party to sort a few things. They kept and carve trees,” Shashe had replied.
sending messengers,” Kangira had replied. “Let
“By mid night no one will have the
me be a man enough to face up to the crowd
power to create kwashiorkor,” Ndanatsiwa
back there.”
replied.
“Will you be a village headman back in
“And to think at the last presentation by
Marandellas?” asked Shashe.
the chief, I was not certain whom of the two of
“That is what I will discuss. You keep you I would take up,” Kangira had replied.
things moving here,” he had replied. “I don’t
boomerang boomerang
“Don’t frighten me,” Ndanatsiwa said. “I carrying half a sack of potatoes. Ndanatsiwa
and her had cast lots with Never and Maputi. was tall as a Russian guard on duty at the tomb
The boys said both of us. We bet them a goat of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow with a
that it was Shashe.” displacement on the stomach which made her
appear like a famine survivor carrying lunch
“I was betting on you Ndanatsiwa,” strapped on her stomach.
Shashe had replied.
“Now,” Kangira suggested. “I am
“Did you deliver the goat?” asked calling in to rest. Let’s have out nightly bath in
Kangira. the grass enclosure”
“We gave them the proceeds of our “Some thick sour milk to wash down
fields and vegetable gardens before you took your food perhaps?” asked Shashe.
us on board. Yes, they got more than was
worth a goat,” Ndanatsiwa said. “No fish is okay for me,” he had replied.
Why were they not in favour of beef or other
“Now be certain that two are enough,” fleshy meat these days?
suggested Shashe.
He waited for their nightly bathing ritual
Supper was served. It was fish fried in to wash away all the dirt of the afternoon. He
hot oil with his favourite thick porridge and sure needed to have his shoulders, waist and
some green vegetables cooked in oily water neck messaged by two sets of careful hands.
besides. These women were getting at pains to
get hold of fresh fish from the rivers nearby. Three weeks later after dancing at the
Almost three times a week he was being party, Kangira requested audience with the
served fried or boiled fish. The vendors were chief. He talked of his old rural area and the
making brisk business here. chieftainship wrangle.
Both of them were spotting different "I want to go there and tie a few loose
looks. Shashe by her short magnitude ends. I will be back within three moons,” he
appeared like she had her back coming in had replied.
while her stomach filled out as if she was
boomerang boomerang
"I hear you.” comes to live in the rural area of her chosen
man not the reverse.”
"I will leave my fine set of two wives for
the meantime. No additions. They are enough, “I went there when I was single. A year
a man has to rest at times,” Kangira had and a few months later I married so it wasn’t
replied. me choosing their rural area after I had married
it’s the opposite. Now six months after that I am
“These people said you were queer here. Had I married them being here in
Kangira. You have proved them very wrong. Goromonzi and I had opted for their rural area
Now they come to me to say chief, consider you would have said I am under petticoat
my grown daughter for the Kangira government. I found them there like any
household.” person moving rural areas. Why do you people
move to Gokwe and marry your wives there?
At that the chief and his aides laughed.
Why don’t you come back here to stay?”
The chief rubbed his stomach with glee. Why
did some men stop at two wives when he had “Why do you forsake your traditional
seven? rural area for another? Had it been the city or
town I would have understood?”
“I guess you were asleep when the

_________________________________
chieftainship was discussed _____.”
“I know that but you can still live here.

Kangira was gone a few months. People have forgotten or forgiven the
chieftainship issue.”
“Kangira,” his half-brother had said.
“What is it that you are stating about moving to “I hear you. Why is it that men go to
Makoni? If you have married there, that place Salisbury and marry foreign women whom they
is your wives’ birth place. You cannot join your met in Salisbury and bring them here?” asked
in laws there as per our own custom. A wife Kangira.
“They bring them here, yes.”

boomerang boomerang
“But they remain in Salisbury with their “I have no need for that or my fields
wives and children,” the other had replied. that I used to till,” Kangira had replied.
“We can now go to see the chief but “Your customers are asking for your
no nonsense about you staying in Makoni.” products. The village carvers are not as
professional and articulate as you were,”
“Mapeto, then we can sit here and eat Mapinga had replied.
roasted peanuts I am not going.”
Now that he had been chief for a few
“Kangira the chief is waiting.” years he had his royal gown around him
alongside his dog collar like ensign that hung
“He is my younger half-brother _____ he
from his neck. He had both a whisk and a long
can wait. That is why I no longer want to live
cane. For him to leave the quarters of his main
here. You people think because you have titles
wife where he had been resting to come to the
then I am under your beck and call when I am
open space within his homestead, some
older? You start breeding with the girls and you
subjects who had come had had to clap their
think you are older because you have more
hands until he had sat down.
children and I don’t?”
Males did it while crouching while the
“Okay I won’t say anything.”
women folk had to kneel. Kangira had refused
Mapeto and Kangira visited the chief in to do that deciding to stand by the round hut
the evening. He sat by his veranda after having of someone out there. Kangira guessed if he
eaten his fill sampled from all his wives. After wanted that done to him then he only had two
customary greeting whereupon Kangira wives to clap hands when the children had
insisted the chief should greet him first because gone to school.
he Kangira had been the first to see the moon,
“That is good. It makes other carvers
stars and the sun, the chief had relented.
come out of their shells,” Kangira had replied.
“Now, my elder brother Kangira, your
There was a large and strong looking
old homestead is no more.”
buff dog that came to sit beneath the chief’s

boomerang boomerang
chair. He looked at the gathering of men and go back. I also came before there are
barked. He growled. There was the deep negotiations to be done pertaining to goats,
sound coming from with the pit of the animal sheep and cattle that I left behind. Some of
as if it was a tape recording being unwound. It you have usurped them from the appointed
was a deep growl from ma strong and well herders. I will make that a bi-yearly ritual as it
loved guard dog of a homestead. He held the may.”
breeding, grooming and feeding rights here.
He did not want to be challenged. The buff dog was back. It looked like a
small calf. It barked. It was reprimanded by the
“Shut up you black monkey,” the chief chief who shooed it away again. Was it called
shooed the dog away. “There is still the issue of black monkey, Kangira wondered. It wasn’t
the village headman ship which you didn’t black after all.
take on board Kangira.”
“You mean you insist on going back to
“I am too much into the woods to lead a foreign land?” asked Mapeto.
people,” Kangira had replied. That was one of
the principal reasons used to usurp his “I decided that when I first left. Some of
inheritance. “Your goats and cows are safe the villagers here went to Wenela in
now that I have two wives on board.” Johannesburg and never returned. They
married foreign women there. Some of them
“Kangira my elder brother,” Mapeto are leaving for different places including Fort
smacked his lips after taking the brew which Victoria, Salisbury, and Lusaka to name a few
was passing around. Kangira held on to a mug so what’s so important about me? I discovered
of tea. “You have to agree that you can be that some of my compatriots have settled in
headman can’t you?” Murewa, Mutoko and Gokwe to name but a
few places.”
“With all due respects council, I didn’t
come all the way from Makoni to Goromonzi The party of Mapeto and Kangira left
via both Rusape and Marondera to talk about the chief’s homestead around in the evening.
heading people. I came to see people like As they were seen out, the buff dog was
you, my friends, relatives and everyone before I appearing ahead of them.
boomerang boomerang
Kangira stopped to let out excess There were wooden door frames, large
water. The dog barked. wooden windows frames, wooden brick mould
for getting bricks that would be burnt first,
“Shut up,” a young boy said. “Don’t timber for rafters, nails, wire, wooden doors and
worry sir he is worse off when he barks.” corrugated iron sheeting. Most of the window
frames were twelve or fifteen panes. It was
“He is a good dog. Whose is he?”
unheard of in a rural area. This one would have
“The chief’s. He is very aggressive at a large veranda to hide from the rising or
night.” setting sun and three large bedrooms with an
equally large common room for family
“Good one. He looks like those I see discussions under a tin roof.
British South Africa European police reserves
holding whenever the black people strike or Both Shashe and Ndanatsiwa came to
boycott things,” Kangira suggested. “What is greet him with babies strapped on their backs.
his name?”
“Baba, while you were away some
“The chief calls him Kangira!” Europeans came and looked at your carvings.
They wrote on a piece of paper and left.”
____________________________________ “The new dogs I see running around,

did anyone name them after me?”
He returned with a lorry ferrying his

belongings like harrows, ploughs and other ___________________________________
issues including a brand new a scotch cart that
he had bought in Rusape. In the lorry were
building materials for a large home that he had
planned.

boomerang boomerang
the
present
generation

boomerang boomerang
shanu (5)

boomerang boomerang
_________________________________
First there had been rumours. Then their

chief and his council had confirmed that there
would be a full week of activity. It was almost,
six days. Every night there would be dancing to
their African rhythms with drums, hand held
shakers, leg strapped shakers and other
percussion instruments which could be
fashioned from the point of view of the African.
There were going to be people singing as
soloist, choirs, duets and others.
There would be dancing from individual

to professional. There would be those who liked
comedy standing on old drums to shout out
friendly banter that formed their customary
comedy. There would be poets saying out
praises to whom they wanted. Young men
would compete for the ladies available. Beer
would be sold for those with thirsty throats as
well as generous helpings of food. The beer
guzzlers and the food gourmands would be
separated and known. The chief wanted the
area’s spirits appeased. There had been a bad
run of droughts and natural disasters.
Soon the villagers gathered for the first

night where all nature of the best in traditional
boomerang boomerang
music playing, singing and dancing had particular dancer had a way with women. He
gathered from sun down until sun up. She was had a reputation of taking his fill of them then
there among the best because she could play dumping them. She didn’t listen to that
hand held shakers while she had some because what young man would look at a
strapped on her ankles. She was known in all widow who had been on the marital bed for
their villages under the single chief for her high more than nineteen years?
pitched alarm bell of a voice, her dancing skills
and her general camaderie. She was good at She did not know if he was drunk
motivating her apprentices in their craft. She because he had a reputation of standing and
was good at training those that wanted to be talking while sloshed with traditional brew.
trained in traditional music. Unfortunately there was no ticket for dancing
under the influence of beer especially on a
Early in the morning after the first night rural reserve for black people without a white
she saw him. He was tall and slightly lanky. man around to enforce their rules. He stood
Those spindly legs had danced on the straight after having shown he was the best
platform. His legs had moved left and right that is why the chief’s council had parted with
while his torso went in the opposite to quite an two cattle for his attendance alone. When he
acclaim by the villagers. Men and women had had appeared there had been men with
gaped as he had danced. It looked like his instruments which they pointed at those
waist went left while his legs went right. It performing. Flashes like lighting followed when
appeared as if he had no waist at all through these were focused on the platform.
his dances. His hands played patterns when he
danced as if he was playing the banjo, drums, “You dance, sing and play well
shakers or clapping. a’mbuya,” the man had said clapping his
hands in greeting.
Then he could play at running away
where he kept his hands behind his sitting “Thank you, but we have heard of you,”
apparatus while his legs swung left and right as she had replied.
if he had no chest. A dancer next to her who
“What have you heard of me?”
wore a cloth over her baby feeding apparatus
and a short under her short skirt had said this
boomerang boomerang
“That you play the drum or shakers very She took him to her village which was
well. They said you can dance very, very well. less than thirty minutes away.
That when drunk you are a real comedy.”
“You are not married?”
“I only do the best I can,” he had said
as the night wore on. On the dance floor were “I am a widow,” she had replied.
mainly those who had been drinking. To them it
“How many children do you have?” he
was six days of sheer pleasure every evening.
asked.
“Do you live close by?” he asked.
“Four,” she had replied. “The oldest is
“Not very far,” she had replied. nineteen years old. I had him when I was
eighteen.”
“I want an hour’s sleep. Can we go and
rest a bit?” he had replied. “You were supposed to be in school
and there you were in a maternity ward,” he
“Don’t you see that I am a grown complained. “You are too young to be a
woman? You are but a young man,” she said. widow.”
“Gogo, just putting my head down?” “Our age already had two children
he asked. “Would that cause a scandal? Who each. I had had a miscarriage a year earlier,”
wrote the rules of the matrimonial activities or she had replied.
any activities aligned thereafter?”
“Hardly through puberty and you
“As long as you behave yourself young already have a husband,” he complained.
man I will take you there. I am an old woman,” “How old is the youngest?”
she had replied.
“About five years old,” she had replied.
“Will you behave yourself
grandmother?” “How long has the father been dead?”
“Three years,” she had replied.

boomerang boomerang
He put his arm over her shoulders. There He continued to fondle. They walked
were bare. She still wore her costume. She faster because there was urgency. Her
removed his hand and was gone for five homestead was not far away. She reasoned
minutes. When she returned she had taken off why he had a reputation with women.
her costumes. She wore a blue or black dress.
He was not sure because the fire side was a He had returned an hour before sun up
little way off. There was no moon or if it was to join his team. Every night he stole away into
there, clouds had covered it. a village homestead not far away coming
back within an hour.
He put his hand over her shoulder. They
started moving away from the chief’s quarters. “I am called Tanaka,” she had said one
When she did not resist he put his arm around day. They walked back to the stage. “You
her waist. When she didn’t resist he felt the never say my name.”
baby feeding apparatus. She said she had last
“I am twenty-four and you are thirty-
used four years ago or so.
nine. In my culture I do not call you by name
“Hey stop touching me there. I am not but your son Clever’s name,” he had replied.
at the age of producing children. The last one
“Why didn’t we think of culture when
was by mistake,” she had replied.
you were on my bed all these days?” she had
“Who told you, you were so old men asked. “Why didn’t you think of the age
don’t look at you twice?” difference when you were asking me to quote
your totem?”
“I just said I am past child bearing age,”
she had replied. “After all you are too young “Yes, why?” he had asked to which she
for a mature woman like I.“ had laughed.
“Haven’t you heard village scandals of “They are giving me a goat,” he

twenty-five year olds marrying forty something explained in low tones now that they were
year old women?” he had asked. within earshot of the majority.
“It’s normally the reverse,” she replied. “Me too,” she replied.
boomerang boomerang
“I will make sure mine is a he-goat and In time the festivities were over. The
yours is a she-goat. Then I will give you mine so dancers and performers went their ways. In
that he breeds with you like I was doing to you those days there were no landline telephones.
______,” he was still explaining when she hit him Communication was by letter or if the state of
playfully on the back. Rhodesia was required somehow the district
commissioners knew how to get hold of the
“I have enough goats already,” she African masses they wanted.
had replied. “And remember I am an old
woman, post menopause.” He gave her a he-goat which was a
huge one. To prevent tongues wagging she
“It will help increase your herd. You are took it by nightfall and sold it three villages
still a beautiful widow who excites young men away. Her old one became biltong hanging on
the same way young girls do. Watch out that a line in her kitchen. Any normal villager who
those young men old enough to be your sons bought a goat from a nearby village tethered
remain at bay otherwise I will hear that one is it to a tree until it had lost sense of home. She
the alpha male.” brought a new he-goat home tethering it
within the periphery of her home. It was a black
“Won’t you return sometime?”
and brown striped he-goat. The one she had
” I will.” sold in exchange was buff coloured.
“I will be waiting for you.” In November her she-goats gave birth

with other goats of hers to twins or singles that
“I will give you my he-goat then.” were buff or black/brown spotted. She by that
time was the talk of the village. This was the
“I have a brown and white stripped he- month when nature worked its fluke and goats
goat already.” were giving births to young ones. Multiple births
in goats were not unusual. Most of them
“That one is old. Take it to the pot.” needed to replenish whatever stock was used
to feed their masters especially at Christmas,
“Did anyone name them after me?”
marriage rites, funerals and family gatherings. It
wasn’t about family gatherings either.
boomerang boomerang
People were not talking about that known not to wait for provocation. They simply
either. Not that her goats had increased. She slid into attack mode. Hyenas were known to
was a heavily pregnant widow. She had a be lazy but just one bite was enough to excite
highly visible large bump on her stomach the whole pack though attacks on humans
which made her belly swing from side to side. were rare. She wanted to avoid both
Being a tall and agile lady, the bump made carnivorous animals and the grazers/browsers.
her very visible indeed. Her back seemed to
have retracted. On the bus she talked to her fellow
passengers.
She had a knife edge tongue. None
bothered to say it in her face. She went into “You are going to sell goods?” the man
labour at their nearest clinic travailing for a few who had asked was short and slim with the
hours before she called her baby daughter, looks of a government official complete with
Fiona. neck tie.
“Yeah,” she had replied. “What is

Muzarabani like?”
_________________________________
“Hot and full of mystery,” he had
replied. “After all what do you expect of the
area near the Zambezi River?”
She went to sell her wares in
Muzarabani. She boarded the buses as was “You are a teacher?” she accused.
usual intending to be in the hot Zambezi Valley
by night fall. She and some of her partners “I am called Jonasi,” he had said.
carrying wares to sell did not want to walk at
“I am called Fiona,” she had replied.
night. This region had farmers and people living
there. “I am not a teacher. I work for the
district commissioner under the African
However it also had hyenas, lions,
Development Fund. I am a tractor mechanic,”
jackals, buffalo and on water bodies there
he had replied.
were crocodiles and hippos. Buffaloes were
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“I come from Chiweshe,” she had “I haven’t reported for duty yet,” he
replied.”However these days I stay with my had replied.
mother’s younger sister in Mazowe. I am
studying but hey, it’s difficult to go to school “I heard you are married. Your
and earn a living at the same time.” homestead is less than a kilometre away,” she
accused.
“Neither can you study while in the rural
areas like Muzarabani or Chiweshe,” he had “Yes. I am a local. I wasn’t like looking
replied. “Where will you sleep?” for a girlfriend.”
“I will check out the shops at Mahuwe,” “That is why they know you so much,”
she had replied. she had replied.
“Let me be of assistance.” “Let me get to work. Did you eat?”
They reached Mahuwe after sun down. “We organised tea and bread later the
Jonasi helped her to carry her luggage. She seven of us,” she had replied.
found a place to stash her commodities that
“Okay I will pass by in the evening,” he
she shared with other women of the same
had promised.
idea. Jonasi showed her around the business
complex. She found that she was sweating a He came at lunch on a massive John
lot. It was a lot hotter here near the Zambezi Deere tractor. She sat by one of the steps while
River than in Mazowe. Jonasi was well known she talked with him. The driver had
at the rural service centre. He came back the disappeared somewhere. It was hot. She had
following day to check on her early in the gathered her dress in the middle of her legs as
morning before she had started selling her most women did here. However she had left an
wares on a makeshift market where villagers ample amount of flesh on eyes row. Most of the
came to haggle. women here didn’t do such a sacrilege.
“How are the tractors?” She asked. When she left for the market, the driver
suddenly appeared. He took her out in the
boomerang boomerang
evening. She and Jonasi sat on a shop window “I will write care of the shops here,” she
whose construction had seen financial had promised.
problems. There was no moon. The night was
pitch black. They sat by an opening meant for She returned to her base of Mazowe
windows. via Harare. About seven months later she was
in Chiweshe to see her family. Being a last born
As they talked she put her hands on his she was the doyen. However she had had to
trousers and started feeling up and down. In fight for her rights because people had a way
between talking, he was soon gasping of saying things which were truthful but that
because she was onto his flesh now. She made hurt. Jewish sons inherited from their father’s
a firm grip working on one hand. He rose from property. In the African custom, property was
where he had been sitting making her to sit on male centric as well.
his lap. He was a large man.
Children from outside the man and
When he had yodelled, she went to her wife’s union mainly brought in by the women
sleeping quarters. They saw each other quite were exclusively left out even from land for
well for the seven days as she was selling her growing crops. Everyone of her mother’s
wares. She saw him when she was leaving. deceased husband’s relative had made her
know she was born out of their family. The
“Tomorrow I go back via Harare to African culture had a name for those born out
Mazowe,” she had said. of wedlock. They called her a wild cat. With
some she had cracked a few lips or scratched
“I will miss you,” he had replied in his
here and there in fights.
common drawl. “Maybe I will find time to
come to Harare on business.” With others she had used her sharp
mouth to scold. In return she remembered
“No you won’t,” she replied. “You will
being kicked in the groin. Then one of the
make your wife pregnant again. I saw her with
males she had answered word for word had
a shiny rounded stomach.”
made sure his opaque beer was deposited on
“That is our second child.” her dress.

boomerang boomerang
“Mother,” she said in the evening. The enough to be a good and compassionate
assortment of grandchildren which her mother husband. Your husband’s family should be
had around her had succumbed to sleep. They invited to the wedding because I have
sat outside shedding the heat of their foods off. suffered under their hand.”
“I am at that age where I should marry.”
“Okay. They did tell you the truth when I
“Fiona, I thought you would marry the wasn’t around.”
teacher.”
“Who will marry me off?” she had
“He was a drunkard,” she had replied. asked.
“One would mistake him when drunk for a
village herdsman. He didn’t identify as a “Why?” her mother asked.
professional.”
“Mother everyone in the village says my
“He had a steady job at least. There father had been dead four years when I was
were brains in his genes. For some time I born. His family have told me I don’t belong to
suspected you were carrying his child,” her this homestead,” she had replied. “They said
mother had replied. “There is a time around you were the mistress of another man with a
two in the morning when I heard you and him homestead near the bus stop. They suspect
talking in the round hut. I was using the toilet.” that he is my father. I however doubt it. I don’t
see any resemblances.”
“I never carried his baby,” Fiona had
replied. “There is a clerk of works at a “Oh that one was before you were
construction company in Salisbury. He has born. Your real father is far, far away. Your
promised to marry me. He is quite a promising maternal uncles who helped me raise you will
character with good references.” do the honours,” the mother had replied. “Your
elder brother Clever who is in Zvishavane will
“Really?” the mother asked. “What is his be much interested in marrying you off.”
name? What is his rural home?”
“Mother, my bridal price cannot be
“He is called Walter Shashe. He comes used by the likes of mukoma Clever. He is a
from Murewa near Bora centre. He is decent child like me. He should marry off his own or
boomerang boomerang
wait for his daughters Tabitha and Theodore to Shashe pays the bridal price. Do you know that
marry.” one day one of them insulted me near the
gardens? I have your sharp tongue. I used it.
“Are you sure you are settling down? The young man threw me into a shallow well.
You do have a reputation here. One of my He followed dunking me in the water for about
friends says she saw you last time when you a minute three times. He pulled me into the
came here. You were coming from a garden.”
homestead near the grinding mill.”
“Why didn’t you tell?”
“One needs to settle down after flirting
and experiments mother. I think I picked one “You were sick. I did not want your
guy from the pretenders. I also learnt from my blood sugars to go up. Besides which he was
flirting mistakes. I flirted with some men who get one of your favourite male relatives. I had just
jealousy and showed their colours. I got beaten had my first abortion.”
once at the dip tank by someone who is now a
husband who commits domestic violence. “How many times have you been going
Mother?” to Muzarabani to sell your wares?” the old
woman asked.
“Yes?”
“For the last six to seven months for
“Who is my father?” she asked. about five nights each month,” she had
replied.
“One day I will tell you. Now you say a
Salisbury based man wants to marry you. What “Fiona, you are expecting a baby.
does this man from the rural council look for in “
you when you are around?” the mother asked.
“Mother!”
“It is called flirting mother, choosing the
best for the marriage,” Fiona had replied. “I “I am telling you, your stomach is
have never gone to bed with the Salisbury shaping up. This is not your first pregnancy
based man mother. I want to see what your that’s why its visible.”
late husband’s family will say when Walter
boomerang boomerang
By the end of the evening she was a “Bruce, I heard you company has
hundred metres away talking to ‘the man from advertised the positions of accounting officers
the district council’ for about an hour. The (finance)?” the person who had asked said
wind blew fast, slowed down or almost walking through the aisle of the 76-passenger
stopped. They didn’t listen to it. They stood by a bus which was starting off.
tree. Sometime later they rocked back and
forth, forwards and backwards. A casual “Yes Frank. I am told the managing
observer would have seen two people and director authorised the recruitment,” Bruce had
one set of legs. replied.
Afterwards she picked stones on the “How many are you looking for?” Frank
ground while he held her by her waist rocking asked from several rows down.
forwards and backwards again. She came
“Frank, don’t sound as if the company
back home around ten thirty in the evening.
is owned by me. I am just an employee,” the
The chill was in. Was it something she had
other replied. “I am sure they have about
eaten? She vomited twice throughout the
seven vacancies. I cannot confirm.”
night. She woke up feeling dizzy before
vomiting again. All the way on the bus to After that Frank and Bruce talked
Harare she was feeling sick rushing to the about soccer mainly the rivalry between the
lavatory wherever the bus stopped at growth two main teams within the city of Harare which
points. She never went down with her wares to were Dynamos and CAPS United. The first was
Muzarabani again. a community team that had survived the
decades running from relegation of taking the
She was three weeks pregnant and
top spot most of the time. CAPS United was
suffering from a venereal disease at the same
mainly sponsored by the pharmaceutical giant
time.
CAPS. Both of them had junior policies that had
___________________________________ drawn talent from the bottom rungs of the
ladder at an early age rising through the ranks.

boomerang boomerang
Bruce disembarked within the confines “I heard you company is recruiting

of Mabvuku which was a large sprawling mass accounting clerks,” she had replied.
of high density housing. He walked towards his
lodgings. On the morrow he had hardly arrived “Yes I think so,” he had replied.
when someone knocked on the door. One
“My name is Fiona. Could you have the
tenant used the lounge and bedroom while he
details of the recruitment including
as another tenant used the kitchen and the
qualifications?” she asked.
other bedroom. He opened the door.
“No, I don’t,“ he had replied. “I didn’t
The lady who stood there was slightly
ask from the personnel section.”
shorter than his one metre seventy. She had the
volume akin to women. There were big hips “Could you find out on my behalf? I will
and a behind to match which could swing handsomely reward you,” she had replied.
patterns when she walked. She had very huge
lactation organs that gave her a physique of “No reward,” Bruce had replied. “If
as if she stooped. you check tomorrow maybe I will have
something from the personnel section.”
“Hello,” Bruce said.
“Thanks, sorry for bothering you.”
“Hello brother,” she replied. The hair
was permed. He watched her waking out until a few
seconds later the wall hid her from view. He
“May I be of assistance?” He had went inside rushing to the window. He watched
asked. her closing the gate.
“You work for Dairy Marketing Board?”
____________________________________
“D. M. B. yes,” he had replied. The sun
was now parallel with the ground casting an
eerie yellow reddish glow over the horizon.
He got the details from the personnel
section. He went home looking around
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expecting her to come. She did not turn up a cone. She had an umbrella for the heat of
that day. She didn’t come the day after or the the day.
next. He went back to the personnel section to
talk and chat. After all he was well known in “I am afraid in my section we haven’t
the transport and logistics section as a senior seen a decline in sales,” he had replied. “The
person below several managers. company has adopted an export culture of
finished products which helps keep the jobs
He was home when she knocked. He internal. The farmers supplying us seem happy
opened the door and asked her to come in. to keep increasing their supply margins.”
“Sorry I was pressed up where I am “Tell me about this job,” she had said.
currently working,” she had said.
He explained.
“You are working?” he had asked.
“So you could stand by me,” she
“I am working at a medium hotel in enticed.
Enterprise as an accounting person. The
change over from the Rhodesian government “Let’s look at your qualifications,” he
to the new system of blacks has seen the had checked her envelope. “You are
Caucasian bulk that formed our customers married?”
shifting to South Africa, Australia and overseas.
“Yes I am a mother of two. Both of us
We have seen an imminent decline in business.
are busy studying to improve our situations.”
Our locals consider our services a little bit
expensive,” she started taking and he let her He started drilling her on possible
talk. She could talk taking gulps of air to keep question and her possible answers. She was
her alive. intelligent. She was quite knowledgeable. She
was also very attractive. She kept her stare on
She wore white longer than knee skirts,
his face as he taught her. He watched and
a blue short sleeve blouse and black leather
noted every movement of her lips, her tongue
shoes. Her arms jutted out of the short sleeve
and her cheeks. She had a habit of gathering
blouse filling it out like ice cream coming from
her skirts in the middle of her legs. Those big
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bold eyes shook his foundations. The short “Are you married Bruce?’ she had asked.
statute with flesh made him soft and tender.
She promised to come the day after tomorrow. “There is a wife and a kid,” he had
He saw her to the bus stop. They talked replied. “My home is in Chishawasha so she
allowing two buses to go by. comes and goes.”
“I will see you Bruce,” she had given him “I have two children,” she had replied.
a quick hug then she released him. “How old are you?”
There was a Peugeot 404 station “Twenty-seven,” he had replied.

wagon pirate taxi calling for the city route. He
“The same age,” she had replied. “I am
watched as someone opened the boot for her.
a married woman so when I am moving with
He waited until the vehicle had moved off
you, you know the drill?”
before going home.
“Let’s get back to the questions,” he had
She came again. They sat on the floor
drilled her gain until they left Harare in the
while he grilled her. First his hands held papers
afternoon. The selection interviews were done.
while she recited or gave answers sitting next to
She came to his home in the evening on a
him. Then his hands ended up touching her
Tuesday.
face and her legs. They ended up on the bed
in a heap. Questions and answers were now so When he opened the door, he asked
easy to follow. her in. She checked they were alone before
she embraced him. For a moment she hung on
his neck with her hands around his neck and
___________________________________
her legs in the air. He actually carried her for a
few minutes.
On a weekend they sat in Harare They kissed mouth to mouth then tongue
Gardens while he drilled her on the about forty for tongue. In between human nature and her
questions he had solicited using various means excitement she talked about being awarded
that were likely to come. the job. She left late in the night around nine in
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the evening by which time he cancelled his “Bruce you are an adult. You are
intended visit to the rural area because his wife married so am I. What makes you think it was
would smell a rat. All the blankets and some of you who made me pregnant?” she had asked.
his clothes smelt of rich perfume. “Why couldn’t it be any other men besides you
if I am pregnant?”
She came almost twice a week or they
met elsewhere depending on the situation. “Suppose it was me _______?”
One day he saw her at work crossing the road.
“Get out!”
“Hi Fiona,” he had said. “It’s been almost
two weeks since you last visited.” He was hurt watching her. The
pregnancy grew against her short and stout
“I am pressed up by work commitments,” frame. She went on maternity leave seven and
she had replied. “Besides which I am attending a half months later giving birth to her third
college.” baby, a girl. Why did she continue producing
offspring that were growing taller and bigger
She never visited him again. than her? Why did each pregnancy stretch her
to the limit of her short stature? This one
Two months later he entered her office
weighed 2, 870 kilograms promising to be taller
while on a casual visit.
than her as usual.
“What is it?” she asked.
She called her Lydia.
“You are pregnant?” he had said. “I
have been seeing the small bulge on your
midriff for some time now.”
“Are you telling me?”
“Did you use me to get your belly filled?”

he asked.

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tanhatu (6)

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___________________________________
“My name is Wallace. I am an

employee with the Salisbury Municipality
working under the municipal council in
Mufakose or better known as Crowborough
District. I am here on behalf of the director of
social services within this borough of Harari. It is
my sincere and extreme pleasure, on his
behalf, to declare this workshop for the ladies
officially open. What would we do without our
loving mothers, father’s sisters or our own
dotting sisters? Today is a day for the women,
enjoy your day. May the best club win the best
awards. May those that falter, learn and come
back recharged.”
The young man standing there was tall.

It was if he wanted to unbolt the rafters from a
classroom without using a step ladder. He had
flesh added to bone. He stood more than six
feet and a half towering over the table there.
His fingers were set on the table. They were
long too. He was handsome. He had the
ebony mixed colours of dark and light brown.
The voice was bass to baritone with a rasp at
the end of it.

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At that there was ululation and dancing again.”I am here representing my aunt who
from the ladies. The baking club activities were couldn’t make it.”
opened. Wallace and other men moved from
stand to stand talking to the ladies and asking “Oh that is great. I am Wallace,” he
about their products. He moved from stand to turned around to look at the full Mai Misodzi
stand with his hands behind his back stooping hall which had baking exhibits.
to talk to the ladies cracking jokes here and
“I am called Judith,” she had replied.
there. The judges were three ladies and a
gentleman. They too moved right round with “I work in Mufakose district or at times at
their clipboards. The man had a pencil stuck on Remembrance Drive here in Harari Township,”
his ear like a carpentry instructor. he had advised.
“Hi,” he rasped so close to her she was “You seem well educated.”
startled.
“I just trained as a social worker dealing
“Hello,” she recovered just in time. She with delinquent children and social welfare
had been sitting on a chair day dreaming cases and activities,” he had replied. “Are you
while watching the festivities. going to school?”
“You don’t seem to be the ages of “No. I missed on marrying when the
women here. Pardon me but you do look octogenarian I was to marry died drinking too
rather too young,” Wallace had suggested. much tea and bread with too much fruit jam
“The average age here is of a nursing mother _______,” she replied.
to grandmothers. You are no way in between
the two.” He had a hearty laugh. Was that funny
or he was laughing to be polite with her?
“Yes I am not of their age. I came as an
associate of my mother’s younger sibling sister,” “I told you my name.”
she had agreed. Yes to what? She should
scratch her head but the pig tail braids did not “I said mine is Judith.”
look kosher at being scratched again and
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“Okay,” he had replied. “Where do you the radio station to the left near Mbirimi Drive
live?” and Mhlanga Street. After it there is a service
station which sells very cold mineral drinks. I will
“I live in the Beatrice Cottages area.” be there tomorrow by five in the evening so
come and see me,” he had risen without
“Which school did you go to?”
consulting her further.
“I went to Mudzengere primary and
She remained speechless. His tall frame
secondary in Mount Darwin.”
was moving along the stands. He neither
“You are a Korekore?” looked towards her nor acknowledged her
presence for the rest of the show.
“Certainly.”
“I know about Madziwa mid-way ____________________________________

between Mount Darwin and Bindura. I went as
far as Masembura communal land to the east
of the main road there. I am from Buhera North
“I thought you could be in uniform,” he
down there. I went as far as junior certificate
had said. They stood by a side street near
before taking a course with the department of
Harare Baptist Church close to the perimeter of
social welfare from whence I ended up joining
Harare High School.
the city of Salisbury.”
Judith wore a white frock which had
“I also did junior certificate though I
whitish interior details. She had to look up to
didn’t proceed further neither did I write the
him at times because she was about five and a
examinations. There were no facilities plus the
half feet tall. The dress was tight. He liked the
situation was rough on the family. I am here
shape coming out though she was dressed
staying with my mother’s younger sister and her
decently. It showed she had flesh in the right
brood.”
quarters. Why, he thought, was it that men who
“You know Beatrice Road going down had grown up in the rural areas measured a
towards Fort Victoria? There is a bus stop after
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woman by her ability to till the land, ferry water “Hey grow taller,” he took her by the
or heavy objects? armpits rising her up. She shrieked. He soon had
her cradled like a baby on his stomach.
“How many times have you seen me in
uniform?” she had asked. “Wallace, Wallace, put me down.”
“Three times have I seen you in uniform? “I didn’t do anything wrong did I?” he
I like the shape of your body in that uniform. asked.
You look like a school child,” he had replied.
“Oh do put the child down she is
“Do you ogle me in that uniform or do complaining,” a passer-by voiced.
you fancy senior girls in secondary school
uniforms?” she asked “Wallace!”
“NO. Let’s walk.” “If you scream I will take you into the
grass there. I won’t let you go until when the
“The uniform for the college where I am sun is rising in the east.”
doing my sewing looks like that of a certain
church. People think we are part of the ladies “Okay, just put me down,” she said
union,” she had replied. The cobblestone gently. “My dress is way up to my hips now.”
sounded underneath his heels. Her canvas
“I am not seeing anything so don’t
shoes did not raise a racket with twigs or coal
shriek,” he had replied,
dust either.
“My legs are out. What will people
“Why don’t you grow taller?” he asked.
say?” she had asked.
“My height is okay.”
“They will think we are practising for our
“But I have to look down.” wedding,” he had replied.
“You are the man.” “Do be a gentleman and put me

down.”

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“First tell me how much you love me. I

won’t carry you into the grass there,” he had ____________________________________
said.
“First promise to marry me Wallace then

I will tell you,” she responded. She was moving at the shopping centre
looking at the long line of workers awaiting
“Let me pull the dress up and see if transport which was arriving in stages ferrying
your stomach can carry nine of my children in them after the buses were full to the industries
twenty years,” he had replied. or the city proper. She watched the lines
moving into an Albion bus. Some of the workers
“NO.” were in overalls while others carried theirs in
bags. Others wore casual clothes.
“No to the nine children or what?”
“Hi,” she had not expected it but he
“Don’t pull the dress up. I will have six of
stood before her.
your children.”
Though she was shorter than him she
She looked down and started kissing
was stocky with wide hips and a rounded
him on the lips while he continued to hold her
behind.
up her legs flaying. He looked up and she
looked down. They kissed and kissed forgetting “Hello Wallace,” she had replied.
about passer bys. He pushed his hands up her
dress further moving over her shoulders. He “Can you walk me to Remembrance
raised her up carrying her into a carpet of Drive?” he asked.
green maize field. Maybe he wanted to check
if she could carry six children to term. “Why not,” she had turned around
walking with him. “Where is your rural area?”
“Wallace _______ Wallace ______ stop it
_______.” “Buhera.”
“Do you go past Hwedza?” she asked.

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“At times we don’t go through Hwedza explain how you kiss and tickle her under the
we go towards Birchenough Bridge or Sabi armpits. With all that sweat you find it funny
River, why?” _____?”
“Just asking.” “I am straight and as innocent as they

come.”
“What will you be doing in the
evening?” “Next time when you take ladies of the
night to bed, use protection. I have been
“I am not sure. When will you take me to seeking treatment for that and you should
Buhera?” also.”
“Whatever for?”
____________________________________
“Just to see the place which is done by
people seeking to be real couples. I invited you
to Mudzengere but you refused.”
Wallace was hardly home in the
“I said I was unaware of the customs I evening in Mufakose when there was a knock.
could end up getting beaten,” he had replied. Who would be coming to see him at this time in
the night? It was around something to nine. His
“Don’t you think it’s a time we had a
latest girl who lived in the next street did not
place of our ever since we have been dating
come here. Her parents would see her
almost a year and a half?”
knocking. They had a habit of swearing in
“Not yet?” Chewa. He yanked the door open.
“Who is Chishamiso?” “Hello,” the woman who stood there

had a wrapper around her waist as was
“I don’t know.” customary.
“It’s the name of a neighbourhood girl “Amai, how are you?” he had asked.
you have been seen coveting with. She does
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“My name is Mrs. Zandenami, I am He saw them off before returning

Judith’s paternal aunt. Our grandfathers are home. They stared at each other without
siblings. I am here with your works,” she had speaking for ten minutes. He rose. He locked
indicated. up for the night. She followed him into the
bedroom where there was a single spring bed.
Judith and another woman came out She made her bed next to the spring bed. They
of the shadows. He would have sworn if asked slept separately. She heard the spring bed
that it was the first time he had seen the creaking. He turned in his slept. Sometime later
swelling on Judith’s stomach. Maybe it was too in the night, he removed from the spring bed to
much acid. the floor for consultations. He went back again.
In the morning he left for work. He pushed his
“Okay,” he reversed his direction
hands from the stomach and her back.
getting into the small house issued by the
council. It had a cubicle of a kitchen, a sitting “Are you sure you are pregnant?”
room which was airy and large and a standard
bedroom. “Why don’t you take me to the clinic
and find out?” she asked.
They talked shop.
The clinic said she was three and a half
“Do you have any of your relatives months pregnant. Negotiations started
here?” the aunt asked. “We are absolutely not between the two families. Three weeks later his
going back with her. You should have thought father arrived from Hwedza. He addressed
of all that when you were romancing.” Judith.
“Not here, in Mabvuku,“ he had “I am taking you to our rural home. I

replied. have a custom that none of my daughters in
law live in the city. They make their homes
“Anyway we are leaving Judith here as
there,” he indicated with his thumb backwards.
is customary when a girl is pregnant. She and
us will advise you how to approach her That is how she got to live in Hwedza.
parents,” she had said. They left within twenty Upon her arrival, she discovered she was the
minutes.
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only daughter in law of their only son. Wallace Whatever he sent for her or their sustenance
did not come to the rural areas like he was was not controlled by her. She made friends
supposed to be doing when he was off duty or most of whom did not bother reaching the
after pay day. His mother was nosy, loud homestead. If at all they greeted from a
mouthed and very jealous of her. distance. Her mother in law had a reputation
of using her mouth. The mouth twisted and
Four months later she had a turned. The tongue came out forked spitting
miscarriage. They took her to a local clinic out words.
where she was interned for about two nights
then she was collected. She wrote to Wallace and her family.
Her family replied. Her mother in law made sure
“Baba,” Judith had addressed her her replies were read to her by any one of the
father in law. “I wanted to go to Harare to nearby school children. She was making sure
recover.” information was kept within the family. Wallace
did not come neither did he reply. She passed
“My rules are unless your husband
through the nearby primary school one
collects you from here, you stay put. You
evening checking mail. She talked to two of
remain here until we put a headstone on your
the teachers before resuming her journey
grave.”
home. She stopped by the shops to rest her
“The father has spoken,” the woman of legs. From the shops it was down valley to her
the house had replied. homestead. She passed through a friend’s
place.
“But mother, you are a woman
_______.” “What is that?” she asked when she
saw about ten 25-kg khaki bags.
“No one is going to Harare or
Mufakose full stop,” the mother had said. “Its agricultural lime for improving
whatever is called the ph of the soil,” the other
She worked at the rural homestead, woman had replied.
bringing in water, going to the grinding mill and
tilling the land. There was no sign of Wallace.
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“I had thought it was cement,” Judith “I thought Simbayi had had you,”
had replied. Judith replied.
“It can make you sneeze if you breathe “No,” the other replied. “We agreed
its vapour. It is made by Circle Cement the on spacing children.”
same company,” the woman explained. They
talked and talked. “Have you ever been to where Simbayi
works?” asked Judith.
“For a moment I would have said your
lime is like gypsum that we use on potatoes, “They move around from one tent
sweet potatoes and other tuber crops that camp to another wherever he as a plumber is
produce fruit under the ground like ground required in new construction. At least he
nuts.” comes here every fortnight,” Tendekayi
regretted her speech. All the ladies knew what
“I wouldn’t mind throwing a handful of harrowing time Judith was under.
gypsum near you. Not lime, you would sneeze
all the way out of this kitchen” the woman had “Can I have some lime in a small
replied. bottle? There is something I want to experiment
with it?”Judith asked. She seemed not to have
“Tendekai?” heard what her friend had said last.
“What Judith?” “Take the cloth, cover your mouth and

do what you want,” the other had said.
“Is that a small tummy?”
Her friend saw her off before returning
“No I am not pregnant,” Tendekai had to her own homestead. After it was dark,
replied to which they had a heated but friendly having done her chores Judith readied to
argument. Tendekai checked that there was sleep. Her father in law sneezed while talking to
no one near the round hut kitchen they were his wife. It sounded like a tractor engine
sitting in. She opened her blouse to show that it misfiring thrice. The last sounded like gear levers
was a normal after birth stomach she now had. shifting without clutch. When the couple had
retired she went towards her bath as was usual.
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First she took a little lamp to wash her body. The tomorrow. If I could get two of your
bath was surrounded by grass thatch with the grandchildren after school I can collect
door closed by a sheet of material. She whatever is being given.”
splashed the water around listening carefully. In
some parts the thatch had parted. “We can both go,” the mother had
replied.
With a towel around her nose and
mouth she used a reed to lift the dry lime. She “Mother, you were complaining about
shook the reed which deposited the line on the pain in your legs and chest.”
thatch. For a moment she thought she would
“I said we are both going!”
repeat the process. Then she heard someone
sneezing not once, not twice but continuously. The old woman was jealousy of her
Though the person was holding back and driving two bullocks and a scotch cart all the
suppressing the sneeze she could hear the way to the school and back. It was a distance
sound of a tractor engine misfiring all the way of about seven kilometres. If she needed go to
past the round kitchen, her quarters and further the grinding mill, her mother–in-law would insist
on. There was the interminant sound of shifting on coming. She would wind up asleep in the
of gears without a clutch. scotch cart or dozing on one of the donkeys as
the strain told.
She never had the feeling that
someone was watching her while she was While waiting for drought relief she
bathing again. moved amongst the villagers exchanging
stories. Her mother in law kept a careful watch
on her. She talked to the shop owners and their
____________________________________
wives, the school head, a few teachers and
other villagers. It was a laborious process that
saw them with their cart and draught oxen
“Amai,” she had addressed her mother moving with their allocation around nine in the
in law. “I passed through the councillor’s place. evening.
Drought relief is being given at the school

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She had to keep telling her mother in “I am going down to a funeral to pay
law to watch out for tree stumps because at my respects. I will pass this way in two hours,”
her age at night she wasn’t seeing them. When he had replied. “Wait for me by the road used
they reached home the elder lady was limping. by scotch carts and vehicles to get into the
Judith took the task with her father in law of hinterland. There is a large tree there which
carrying their allocation indoors. She took the was hit by lightening some years ago.”
bullocks out to their kraal which was a hundred
metres or so. “I will be here. You wait for me.”
“Ah, amai,” a voice said from the “I won’t wait more than twenty
footpath near the kraal. minutes,” Mutasa had ambled off.
She walked towards the hazy figure of For a youth he was not worried about
the person. “Hello, who is it?” walking in the pitch black night. She went to
her room and composed her letters. Checking
“It is me, Mutasa,” the voice said. that the elderly couple were asleep she tip
Mutasa is a totem. They greeted. “How are you toed towards the village road to wait for
doing Mutasa?” Mutasa. She had to double back waiting by a
bush looking at her round hut bedroom just in
“I am doing fine. “ case someone had been up and nosy. There
was no one. He did not come. She returned
“Will you be going to Harare?” she
after thirty minutes. She was asleep an hour
asked.
and a half later when she heard the dogs bark
“This Friday in the afternoon,” he had once then there was silence,
replied.
She turned over in her room to
“I wanted to send you with a letter to continue sleeping. There were two places
my husband and my parents. My in-laws should designed with the shape of triangles which
not see both. Otherwise the letters won’t go. cats used to get in and out and which allowed
Someone will be asked to read them in my light. She heard a sound like steel shaking or
presence,” she had replied. rattling on one of the triangle. She woke up.
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There was a hiss. “Remain by the tall tree there, no

noise,” she had finished bathing.
“Who is it?”
She went into her room checking that
“Not so loud. It’s me, Mutasa.” the other couple were asleep. She made a
sign. He was silent. She locked her door with a
“He will kill you.”
log as was standard while they talked in
“Okay,” he said. “Hand over the hushed tones. There was no light. She just wore
envelopes.” a wrapper around her body.
She lit a light and did so. She watched “Did you see my aunt and uncle?”
through the triangles as he ambled off into the
“I saw them too. Why don’t you tell
deeper night. Why hadn’t the family’s dogs
them the way he is treating you?” he asked
barked more than twice?
“I have an idea. I want him to feel the
She knew her letters had reached home
pain I feel,” she had replied.
when a week or so later she was having a bath
at night. There was the sound of keys. She She silenced him removing her
switched off the light. The old couple had gone wrapper. They moved to an ox hide that she
to sleep. She usually felt the sound of steps near used to lay her blankets atop. He was a good
her round hut. She made it a point to sweep post man such that he left around three in the
gravel and sand towards the hut’s walls. morning. He came three to four times a week
Usually her mother-in-law almost always started on the chance that he may be a hand
sweeping from Judith’s round hut! If not she postman again.
pulled a dead branch for firewood past
Judith’s hut on one side. She fell ill while doing her work
sometime later. She was rushed to the local
“What?” clinic.
“I was in Mufakose,” he had said. “What is it?” her mother in law had
asked.
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“She is okay. It’s just the early stages of point to call him out with a wave. He was surely
pregnancy.” seeing the big and bold tummy that was under
sizing the rest of her body as it grew each time
“What?” they met.
“You will be a grandmother very soon. She at last gave birth calling her baby
Congratulations!” daughter Ndanatsiwa. She wrote letters to her
former husband’s rural area but Mutasa replied
“A grandmother?” she asked herself.
one in three until afterwards, he ceased writing.
She hobbled home. “My son hasn’t seen hide
She was hurt but she understood the scandal
of his woman for the last twelve months and
and implications it would cost him.
she is pregnant?”
She ran her market stall while staying in
________________________________
Mbare with her maternal aunt while her baby
grew. One day she was coming from the city in
a ramshackle Peugeot 404 station wagon
Judith was back in Mbare by mid-term of pirate taxi. Someone opted to put Ndanatsiwa
her pregnancy after a drama with her in laws on their knees since she had goods. She was
who had bundled her into a bus off to her coming from Mount Darwin to see her parents.
Mbare parents. Her parents had told her in laws
that as far as they were concerned their son “Thank you sir,” she had said.
was the culprit. Now she was back to doing
“What’s Cinderella’s name?” The man
what she knew best buying commodities from
had asked.
farmers and selling at her market. Some lady
had moved with her husband to Mabvuku and “She is called Ndanatsiwa,” she had
bequeathed her the market stall. She rented it replied.
direct from council.
She thanked the tall darker skin
It gave her joy during her term of complexioned man when he alighted near
pregnancy each time she met Wallace. He Rufaro Stadium.
was a frequent visitor to Mbare. She made it a
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“Are you bound for the game?” she had ten minutes before he left. “Next time you go
asked. for the game check my stall.”
“Yes,” he had replied. “Highlanders is in “How is the little girl?”

town. It’s the battle of the giants. Today all we
Dynamos supporters are supporting CAPS “Ndanatsiwa is all right,” she had
United against the Bulawayo might.” replied. Every game on the weekend he
passed by on the way or from the soccer
“Okay, thanks again, sir,” she had game sitting and chatting with her. “I brought
lighted off at her usual bus stop. Ndanatsiwa these colouring pencil and
colouring books. I don’t know how I took them
She didn’t worry about her load. The to the game at Rufaro Stadium. I don’t want to
cart operators knew her so well they go in there holding anything because I can
negotiated a fare deal. She was on her market throw it at the ground or supporters if I get
working with a feather duster. excited either way.”
“My sister, we meet again,” the man “Thank you very much Ambrose,” she
extended a handshake. She drew a blank. had replied.
Who was he?
Ambrose passed through even mid
“My, oh, my, what a small world,” she week until he was a usual visitor. She normally
had replied. Where had those words come left someone on her stall seeing him off as far
from? as wherever he was going. One day he asked
her to visit his place in the locale near Chatima
“That day, CAPS United played well but
Road. He had advised her of that a day or two
Highlanders were the better team at scoring.
before.
We lost 3 – 2.”
She brought Ndanatsiwa with her. As
“Come this way,” Judith had
they walked, he carried Ndanatsiwa on his
remembered. He had washed his hands. He
shoulder. He lived in a neat wooden shack well
had consumed a bull mango and three ripe
furnished by bachelor standards. He took
peaches from Nyanga. They talked for about
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Ndanatsiwa hand and disappeared outside. “I also took someone on board. They
She picked herself up from where she sat in a were not very favoured by my parents on
longer than knee flowered blue dress. She account of us being different tribes,” he had
swept the room, dusted furniture and mopped. explained.
Then she ran a brush and dry cloth over the
exposed bare cement floor. “And if they don’t favour me?”
“Oh thanks,” he had replied when he “She didn’t have a strong heart of
came back with Ndanatsiwa. Ndanatsiwa was being thoroughly stubborn,” he had replied.
finishing an ice cream.
She thought of what she had done to
They talked about a lot. First he sat a shame her in laws and force their hand. How
metre from her. By the time Ndanatsiwa had did Wallace feel whenever they met and she
gone outside to make new friends, he sat next had Ndanatsiwa by her side. Maybe he had no
to her. He put his arm around her waist and heart. Maybe his heart was made of Portland®
squeezed. He put his fingers underneath her cement mixed to create concrete.
chin raising her head up.
The only point for electricity was a bulb.
“Ambrose, I am a single mother hence I He kept either seeing her at the market or she
don’t want to be involved,” she had said. “I found time three to four times a week to come
don’t want another child.” and visit him. He shifted accommodation in
between to better quarters. A few months later
He kissed her again. she advised him that she was expecting a
baby. She was taken by her aunts to his place.
“I fully understand that. Now tell me She operated from there going back to her
your story,” he had said. stall until his parents had collected her for their
rural home as was expected.
“I eloped for someone that didn’t want
me,” she had explained leaving out the parts On a weekend he came home to
about Mutasa. Magunje near Chinhoyi.

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“Ambrose,” his father had stated in a “Father, aunt got married after having a
family meeting. She was there so were some baby with another man. Your own sister did the
relatives. “Why did you choose a woman with same for goodness sake!”
a child? Are you so incapable of creating your
own that you chose a stranger’s. What “No arguments. I have spoken. If you
happened to your elder male cousins’ children dare take her and stay in the city but no
for you to do that?” daughter in law like her will stay here. Had you
run short of girls within this locale?” asked his
“Was I supposed to marry an angel?” mother.
Ambrose asked. “Does one choose whom they
marry or its fate?” “Maybe he is blind he doesn’t see the
women and girls who are here,” the father had
“Fate works for you alone, mukoma?” said.
asked one young brother.
“Father,” a woman had replied. “The
“Where there no virgins?” his mother women and girls here are rushing into being
had asked. married three of them to one man. Which one
is eligible enough for my brother?”
“Father,” Ambrose said. “I married a
woman from Centenary. You two said she was “Constance, shut up! Go to that useless
not fit to be your daughter in law. She went husband of yours. Why are you here anyway?”
back there. You tried holding onto her child the father asked.
and the police frog marched you to jail,
remember? You are now forgetting. You now “I _____,” Constance wanted to reply.
want to approve a wife for me?”
“Aunt,” Judith had whispered. “Why
“I am not comfortable with a daughter in don’t you support your family? I am a stranger,
law who has known other men before you,” his tomorrow they will remain there by which time I
father stated. will be gone.”
“The women here, muroora, they are

either married at sixteen or are those that
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parade their bodies at the rural service centre “Judith,” her maternal aunt’s husband
or they work/live in towns. Whom do they want had said. “The ball is now in your court. I talked
as his wife?” in the shoes of your father. I will have to take
the bus on a weekend to go and see my
Constance had exited the kitchen as did brother-in-law and advise him of what we
the other young people including Ambrose’s came up with. Do you want to go and live with
sisters and female cousins. They knew the old Ambrose?”
man well when he had had a beer on top of
which he had a bone to chew right or wrong. “He said he is prepared to take me
back.”
On the morrow Judith was back in a
bus for Mbare. She went back to her stall. Her “Is it a yes or no?”
stomach grew larger by the week. After a
month Ambrose appeared sheepishly. He took “Yes,” she had replied. She knew she
a stool and started talking to her in her market. wanted the feeling of being married not being
She served customers. a single mother with two children from different
men.
Now that he had followed up she didn’t
know whether to be happy or to be sad. She “Mukuwasha you can tell Ambrose we
now didn’t know whether she wanted married are preparing his family, maybe they will be
life or to remain a single mother with two there tomorrow evening.“ The uncle had said.
children from two failed marriages with another “Has Ambrose eaten?”
man in between. She left someone at the stall
“Yes he was served with food.”
while she called in her maternal aunt’s family.
“Maybe he likes tea afterwards like
After a session that involved the go-
me.”
between as was custom who negotiated on
behalf of Ambrose because a prospective son “He had tea uncle. He will have tea
in law could not meet face to face with his in with you when all issues are resolved.”
laws she was asked.

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She saw him as far three of four houses “My mother’s younger sister will look
down the street. It was now night time. She had well after her,” she had replied.
her arm on his right shoulder. He was taller than
her. Why did she choose the taller gentlemen? “A child that young needs its mother,”
Why did they choose her too? he had pointed out.
“Don’t walk on foot. Jump into any one “Now that we are back together, can I
of those pirate taxis,” she had advised. keep the market?” she had asked.
She was holding her waist. The strain of “If you get someone to lift heavy
the pregnancy was telling. He hugged her objects for you and do the donkey work in the
feeling her huge stomach. She removed his morning. You will also have brought
hand because doing that in public was against Ndanatsiwa in here within a week,” he had
culture. He kept his arms around her consulting instructed. “Do you know how you look with
like eager young and hot blooded lovers in the that protrusion on the front?”
streets and hedges lost to the world.
“No.”
“Is the baby kicking?” he had asked.
“You like a fender of an Oshkosh truck.”
“You will find out tomorrow,” she had
“Ambrose!”
replied. “You will have to whisper a lot in my
ear so that the baby gets to know your voice.” She ended up living with Ambrose until
she had another daughter within seven weeks.
He went into a Peugeot 404 station
When his parents came into Harare they
wagon on his way deeper into the labyrinths of
passed through Mbare without greeting her or
Mbare. He was home early from work when she
Ambrose. In three years time, Judith had
was presented to him by the same aunt. He
produced yet another daughter. Each and
saw the two women off as far as the road
every one of them was more beautiful than
before he returned.
her, taller and more intelligent than both
“You left the little girl,” he pointed out. parents. Becoming a mother of three
daughters so early did not diminish her
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impressive looks neither did she stop working “A child is a child whether male or
hard to look after her family and their relatives female. Three girls are good enough plus
who passed through. another in centenary. In seven years you had
three,” he had replied.
“You are a breeding machine,”
Ambrose had said. He was getting ready for “We have only been married four
work. years.”
“Do I breed alone?” she asked. “Including Ndanatsiwa,” Ambrose had

said.
“That is a good question. Can I see the
man responsible?” he had said. “There is one missing daughter
somewhere in Centenary,” she had retorted.
His company had shut shop but not
before they had given their workers severance She wished she could look after his
pay. The Caucasian owners did not like the daughter the same way he had made
limitation on external funds and new rules Ndanatsiwa take the mantle of the eldest
under the ESAP (Economic Structural daughter in the family. Not many men in the
Adjustment Program). Ambrose was now society wanted another woman’s child in their
running a place where wood products were on family.
sale from wood used to manufacture furniture,
roof trusses, doors and others. They now lived in “The mother though remarried refuses
Glen Norah. to leave her daughter just like you did with
Ndanatsiwa,” he had said.
“A woman is supposed to produce
children,” Judith had replied. “After all African As he left for his workplace, he had two
society looks down on single mothers and girls one on the left, the other on the right
especially those that are barren. We the ones whom he had to see off to their school before
giving birth to daughters are placed in the he walked to his workplace. Within an hour she
same basket as the barren and single women.” would leave the servant with her smaller child
to attend to her market stall. The servant would

boomerang boomerang
come around two to relieve her while she bedrooms, a long passage, a lounge, dining
would come and prepare supper. room with a serving hatch and a fitted kitchen.
Besides there was a garage attached to the
It was the routine except that on that house made of wrought iron and covered by
day, Ambrose’s parents gave in and passed asbestos. The whole house was under tile with
through her house for a week. ceiling, fitted cupboards, built in wardrobe and
other assortments like ceiling fans.
____________________________________ She heard a vehicle horn blowing.

There was the sound of a well serviced engine
revving before being shut off. There was an
Ambrose and Judith had been Austin Westminster in their driveway with
allocated a residential stand in Glen View Ambrose on the driver’s side looking proudly at
where they had earnestly soldiered to build in her. The colour of the vehicle was silver grey.
between which baby daughter number three
“And what is this?”
had been announced.
“A 1971British manufactured Austin
“When we made plans for the house
Westminster A110s 4 door salon which can sit
near Gutsai Spar, I didn‘t know that one day
five people. I testify it was built in Longbridge,
the bedrooms would get saturated with
England,” he had replied. The neighbours were
babies,” he had said holding a little bundle in
peeping through the hedges.
his arms.
“Four daughters and us make six,”
“I guess we will have to constantly
Judith replied.
extend the house,” she had replied.
“There is a space for the toddler,”
On a winter day almost four years later,
Ambrose replied. “I will promise you that none
Ambrose surprised his wife. The house had
will be stored in the truck. However I can’t
been finished. It had four bedrooms with the
promise you won’t find pieces of wooden
main one having a walk in wardrobe, toilet and
shower. There were three other standard
boomerang boomerang
planks in there or saws, planes or set squares Judith and a few other relatives waited
either.” by the doctor’s office. He came forty-five
minutes late. They had no choice but to wait
“Does the vehicle have an engine?” for him. He rounded the corner in the company
she asked when she had taken a tour of it. of two female nurses. He was wearing a white
dust coat which was open all the way over a
“This one has a Vanden Plas Princess 3-
navy blue set of trousers and a checked shirt
litre engine with 4-speed manual transmission. I
with red and grey.
can tell you the type of gear box oil this vehicle
uses.” “It’s about the girl Ndanatsiwa whom
you are attending,” Judith had said.
“Why do men know more about
vehicles than the fact that their wives are “Is your husband here?” asked the
pregnant again and the scan said baby boy?” doctor.
___________________________________ “No just my in laws and stuff like that,”
Judith had replied.
“I will feel okay to talk to you alone

Ndanatsiwa was in the second year at
without everyone being present if you are the
Highfield High School when she fell sick. Judith
mother,” the doctor had said.
took her first to the local clinic. She was referred
to Harare Hospital in an ambulance. This Everyone else left the room.
proved the magnitude of the problem.
“How old is Ndanatsiwa?”
“What is it?” Judith had asked the
doctor who was doing the rounds. “She is turning fourteen,” Judith replied.
“You can see me in my office when I “She is pregnant. She tried to abort.
am through with my rounds,” he had She could have succeeded but she lost a lot of
suggested. blood. She may have infection too from
whatever she used to try to abort.”
boomerang boomerang
“What?”
“She tried to abort the baby but

couldn’t then and there. There is too much loss
of blood we will have to detain her and send
her through a blood transfusion system.”
“Doctor, at fourteen, you say she is

pregnant?”
“Yes,” he had said. The doctor had to

call the relatives in because a pregnant
mother had collapsed.
____________________________________

boomerang boomerang
nomwe (7)

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___________________________________ “She is doing well. She is pulling through

with this crisis. I am here about the girl,
Ndanatsiwa. She is the origin of the merry go
round the family is spinning in. The two of us
“Doctor,” Ambrose had sat in the small
may just collapse because of her.” He replied,
office in the hospital complex within Harare
“Man to man let’s talk doctor.”
Hospital. He did not feel at all that then hospital
was built like the acropolis, on top of a hill. It “Go ahead,” the doctor had said.
was visible like a tower light from all around the
industrial or residential areas of Workington, “At fourteen she can’t marry
Southerton and Rugare. whosoever made her in child.”
The smells differed from day to day but “You tell me,” the doctor said. “That is
it was mostly the smell of ointment, medicines, under the legal age of majority which is sixteen
bandaging or laundry. He had paced up and though she can’t be an independent child until
down waiting for the doctor to finish his rounds. she is eighteen.”
It was about thirty minutes waiting yet to a man
who was on edge it was like half a day. He also “Is it possible to have a legal abortion
acknowledged that there were some in this situation?”Ambrose asked.
educated people with whom he would have
The doctor and Ambrose were talking
to be patient. He knew crisis were part of life. If
while standing. The younger man looked like he
ill managed they caused stress.
was tired and wanted to see some more
“You are the father?” patients or some medical review. Ambrose
thought, no wonder these doctors go for five
“Yes,” he had stammered. What did it years training at college. After a barricade of
aid the doctor to tell him he was the adoptive tests they emerged as junior doctors working
father? under supervision for two more years before
they could leave government run hospitals and
“How is your wife? I didn’t notice she join the private sector or run their small
was pregnant.”

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surgeries. There they made their money and

fame. ____________________________________
“The current law in Zimbabwe requires

a court order for that to happen. To get a court
order you first need to file a police report. To “Judith?”Ambrose asked the woman he
get to the police you need to know who was had married who had been interned after her
responsible. If they are over eighteen, you collapse at Glen View Polyclinic. The nurses
need to get them under lock and key at a there were observing the situation.
police station first,” the doctor had replied.
“Did you see Ndanatsiwa?” she asked.
“Those are the basics. The other issue for an
adult could be if she was raped which works “No, some other people did. I was with
even for a minor. The next point to rape is the doctor. It was a long wait,” he had replied.
incest by the father, brother or close relative. “Do you know the boy responsible?”
It’s all boiling down to child sexual abuse by an
adult. All these need the police and the “I don’t Ambrose. This was a complete
courts.” shock! Whether it’s a boy or a man I have no
idea.”
“You can then abort?”
“Get well soon,” he rose and exited
“It will depend on the size or lengthy of the clinic. He met a man whom he knew who
the pregnancy. With a court order any doctor was seeing a relative in the maternity ward. He
here can perform that operation,” the younger thought of a plan. He waited until the man was
man had instructed. “With a court order we will coming out. They talked.
be bound hand and foot to terminate the
pregnancy otherwise the current laws do not Ambrose drove to a part of Glen View
allow that. Then there is the issue where illness is 1. When he reached Harare Hospital he had a
such that the hospital has to save the mother uniformed police constable. They gained entry
and let go the baby. This one does not require to see Ndanatsiwa.
a court order. Yours is a minor below the legal
age of sixteen, try something.”
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“Lady,” Ambrose whispered. “The with her best friend. They left behind a lot of
officer here wants details.” tears and nursing staff consoling a minor.
“Details about what?” “What do you know about this?” The

office had asked. For fifteen minutes he
“He wants to know who was scribbled on a jotting pad. Ambrose drove
responsible and how it happened. You may back to Glen View.
end up finishing your high school in Chikurubi
Prison if you don’t co-operate,” Ambrose had “When I dressed up in my uniform I
replied. I am made to understand Chikurubi wanted to terrify the daylights out of the two
and HwaHwa prisons have prison officers who girls,” the police officer said. “Now we have to
have studied at teachers colleges. I am also report this as statutory rape otherwise should it
thinking they have interned teachers who went blow I will be discharged.”
haywire with the law. These reformed prison
mates would teach you some subjects if you “We have the boy’s address?”
don’t tell him the truth.”
“Yes,” the police man replied. “He is
“How is my mother?” called Vincent Gonoremvuu. They say his
grandfather was a famous wizard or witch
“She is hanging on the truth. She is doctor whatever you call him in Goromonzi.”
waiting upon your little secrets to be revealed,”
Ambrose replied. “Would you like her to lose “I was a boy once. I was also naught.
your only brother because you didn’t tell the However I never tried on little schools girls,”
truth? Or would you like to be an orphan, Ambrose had said. He went into Highfield,
without your mother and intended little Egypt lines and asked for the address they had
brother?” been given and the boy by name. He wasn’t
at home. They left word that they would return.
Big bold brown eyes looked at him “If he doesn’t take flight, I am not to blame.”
growing larger. After a short interview they Ambrose made a report detailing what
drove to Kambuzuma and asked for audience had happened. Armed with the police report
he approached the courts on the following

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days. The police had failed to discover where a the one who can push this family into the
nineteen year old called Vincent had cemeteries.”
disappeared to. He had last been seen in his
residential area of Egypt Lines. He had left On the next day he brought
hastily dressed in what he was wearing. Ndanatsiwa home. On the third day he took
her for checkups. She was detained overnight.
Ambrose visited his wife who was soon By the third day she was back.
discharged. He ferried her to Glen View their
home to stabilize. She was in a delicate There was no sign of whatever had ailed
condition. the family. Seven weeks later, Judith gave birth
to her only son. It was her last child.
“Judith if you worry you will lose the baby
boy you were so worried about,” Ambrose said.
“How many years did you pray for a male child ____________________________________
in order to risk losing one like this?”
“I know. Have you seen the child?”

“Sir,“ the woman had said. “I am telling
“No, everyone else including our you that the girl Ndanatsiwa is pregnant. I am
relatives is there I was running around.” reliably informed.”
“Kids,” Judith summed up. “I heard your story,” the man behind the
panelled desk said. “We will discuss as school
She sat on a three seat sofa looking the authorities thank you.”
outside world. Her blood pressure had gone up.
An attending doctor had warned her that they He was holding a Parker pen in his
may operate to save her or the baby but not hand. In his huge hands, the pen became a
both. toy. He was opening and closing the pen. The
nib was coming out and going back. On the
“Don’t worry nothing untoward will same row with the woman were a
happen.” Ambrose had promised. “You are professionally dressed woman and another
man in a navy blue suit. While the bigger man
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was about five and a half feet tall sitting on “The laws of the country say when a
about ninety kilograms of weight the other was child is pregnant they are expelled from
about six feet sitting on about sixty kilograms of school,” the big man had said.
weight. The leaner and taller man had a cloak
of white or grey on his neatly combed head. “Sorry, headmaster,” the deputy head
had replied and reasoned. “We cannot prove
“My pleasure,” the woman had said she is pregnant though we may bungle and try.
leaving the office. We can prove as the parents can also that she
is hospitalised for any number of reasons that
“Senior woman, what is your uptake on can lead to us thinking its pregnancy like
this?” the big man behind the desk asked ulcers, appendix or so on.”
relaxing in the comfort of the swivel chair.
“I could have her and two teachers
“Yes I heard sir. Besides her report, there take her to clinic for a urine test,” the senior
is a team of girls that told me the story too,” the lady had replied. “However there is something
senior lady had replied. “You will be surprised funny. The woman who was here is the mother
at how the other girls turn the tables on their of Ndanatsiwa best friend. I suspect so. She has
own fellow students while they are themselves a terrible tongue if you get the other side of
prescribed to the same naughty medicine of her. She has tongue lashed one teacher
experimental sex. There is always a whistle before. I now remember. No wonder why she
blower from any corner of the school.” was familiar.”
“What is your say deputy head?” “Still we need let her recover. She isn’t in
school yet,” the deputy head had replied.
“The girl in question has been
“Then we can discreetly have the urine sample
hospitalized twice according to the reports that
as you suggested.”
I got,” he replied.”Let us wait until she has
recovered. The parents are middle class they “We need to be firm,” the big man had
may know the law more than the written law.” replied.

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“Yes sir,” the deputy replied. “I will “You will do it for a friend,” she had
advise is she comes to attend to her lessons.” replied.
“Good,” the head pulled his chair in. “For a single mother when I am not
“There is the matter of the three boys caught either a single mother or a mother at all?”
jumping over the school walls _______.” Ndanatsiwa asked.
“Yeah, you are the same girl I went to

the University of Zimbabwe for four years with.”
__________________________________
“Why is it that the best boarding schools
this side are in Marondera, Rusape or
Nyanga?” Ndanatsiwa asked.
“Ndanatsiwa are you doing anything
great this weekend?” someone had said on “The weather I suppose. This is Hwedza
the telephone. which is prone to drought and lowveld heat
with mountain ridges here and there scattered
“I need check my schedule of court like ice on your soda shake.”
cases,” Ndanatsiwa had replied.
“If I am free I will holler Cynthia,” she
“I am driving down or I am supposed to had replied.
drive down to Goto district within Hwedza or
whereabouts to where my son is attending a Friends like Cynthia had started
form I selection interview at St Anne’s Goto appearing from her early childhood years. They
High School. A long time ago students applied appeared and disappeared depending on
by writing letters. Parents didn’t worry much as situations. As the economy contracted some
we do now.” had moved with their families outside the
country while others had soldiered on. How
“Why do I need to go down to Hwedza many children did Cynthia have now that she
negotiating mountain passes if I am heading had a twelve year old most probably who was
down towards Buhera or Bikita East or West?” trying for boarding school placement?
she asked.

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In the end for the sake of a friend she “Oh?”

had driven in Cynthia’s Mazda Capella with
two other students that Cynthia had luckily “Andrew was in medical school the third
found. Their parents helped reduce the fuel bill year when we met and he had been a junior
to and from. One of the reasons Cynthia had doctor for a year when we parted company.
decided to take her on board besides keeping By then he was not inclined to marry a mother
their friendship was that she slept half of the of two when he was about twenty-five years of
way while Ndanatsiwa drove all the way into age.”
Hwedza. Cynthia took over from there right to
the school her child had applied for. “You have three children, Bernard,
Sheila and Dorcas.”
“How is Andrew?” Ndanatsiwa had said
“I married early. I married a man who
“Andrew?” ejected me after these first two kids were born.
He came from a big business family,” she had
“The boy’s father,” she had corrected. replied. “Andrew and I did not have any
children. He was very practical that it would
“Oh you mean the young doctor?” never happen. We almost lived together but
that was it.”
“I remember you and him, being an
item when we were at college,” Ndanatsiwa Ndanatsiwa did not press further into
had replied. personal issues. The children attended their
selection interviews while the parents milled
“Ndanatsiwa, when I came to the around worried and apprehensive with friends
university in Mount Pleasant for four years I was like Ndanatsiwa finding space to tour around
a mother of two already,” Cynthia had with no worry on their mind.
explained. “It was my intention before college
to be a mother of five. However fate worked Ndanatsiwa was coming from the ladies
out the wrong way for me. I and my husband room when one lady confronted her.
had parted before then. He was busy dealing
with a new woman in his life and looking after “Ma’am?”
her because every three years she produced
for him someone to continue the clan.” “Yes?”

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“You look like someone I went to school “Mother,” Ndanatsiwa said on the
with but she was shorter and less in terms of telephone. “I wanted you to accompany me
volume,” the other had replied. “But I would somewhere this weekend.”
have vouched that you are siblings.”
“Depends on my schedules,” the older
“Where was that?” woman replied.
“At Christe Mambo.” “Make sure you are free this week,” she
had replied. “Make arrangements with daddy
“No I didn’t go to any boarding school. I about it. There are times when an elderly
was a day scholar.” mother and her spinster daughter need to
drive out,”
“Are you a Katokwe?” asked the other.
Instead of approaching from Hwedza,
“Yes that is my surname,” she had she approached her quarry from Headlands
replied. “But I grew up more of in Mbare and going in almost the opposite direction as if she
Glen View not here.” knew the area beforehand. She asked for St
Anne’s Goto High School and its directions.
After about fifteen minutes Ndanatsiwa
knew a lot. She knew there was a line of At last she reached the school. While he
people with her surname starting with Evelyn, mother used the toilets she asked for other
two other sisters and a brother stuck directions. They drove into a modernised rural
somewhere. Ladies have a habit of opening up dwelling complete with brick under asbestos
when they want to. They did not know whom strictures.
they were talking to. Yet there was no scandal
in their discussion. It was about going to “Where are we going?” her mother
different schools and colleges with [people asked.
they were trying to find as ex-classmates.
“There is someone I want you to meet,”
she had replied.
__________________________________

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Her mother had a long intake of breath “Welcome to my residence. I am called

when Ndanatsiwa asked for a man by his Norman Katokwe,” the man said. “It has been
name and profession. a long time. Your mother insisted that it should
be hush, hush. I respected her decision. You
“Ndanatsiwa, you are going to kill me are a big girl now.”
one of these days.”
“Mother of Evelyn this is Judith and her
“You are not going to die, yet mother.” daughter Ndanatsiwa. I think I told you the
story of what happened.”
They were led to a grass thatched shed
where the wind was cooling them. An elderly “You are welcome. I know the story.
woman called her husband there. He walked Welcome to the home of two elderly
straight and shook hands. When he saw both, teachers.”
he made an exclamation then he greeted
them before sitting down. No one took notice “Ndanatsiwa made her own
of the smart rural residence complete with investigations,” Judith had said. “Ndanatsiwa
feeding of the national power grid. No one this is your biological father. I never met Mrs.
took notice of the bevy of chicken runs and Katokwe. When I left the region, your father
piggery projects that was there. was known as teacher Mutasa.”
After customary greeting, Ndanatsiwa

opened the ball.
__________________________________
“My name is Ndanatsiwa Katokwe,” she
started.
“She is as like Evelyn as if they were Later as they drove back Judith told
twins,” the elderly woman said. “I am called Ndanatsiwa to drive through a dust road
Caroline Katokwe. I have been a kindergarten heading north. It had a lot of ruts and road
teacher for as long as maybe three to four abrasions. It appeared like the rural district
years less than your age.” council had forgotten to maintain some
patches of the road.

boomerang boomerang
“Mom, are you sure you know where we “Mom!”

are going?” Ndanatsiwa had asked.
“Yes.”
“On that inverted Y turn to the north. I
never asked where we were going when you “Right there is the same borehole which
were heading for the Katokwe residence.” is being repaired time and time again from
which school children drink their water. I used
“It wasn’t fair for you not to tell me to come here coming from the ranges over
everything about my biological father. I know there to drink water and rest.”
the man I called dad did everything he could
do for his own daughter for me. I respect and “And he would see you?”
love him for that. However, children born out of
wedlock are very inquisitive.” “Whether he did or not wasn’t the
concern. There was a short cut through here
“You surprised me so let me surprise you before the school, fenced off its orchards
with my knowledge of these roads,” Judith had because people were feasting on the
replied. mangoes, peaches, guavas and other fruit.”
The road opened up to be clear though Driving onwards Judith pointed out
dusty. Inside an hour and a half she drove where the grinding mill was and the shops that
towards a school. had relocated to another place used to be.
The grinding mill had like the shops and the
“You can stop here,” Judith said. school been places were the community met
to talk and chat while awaiting services.
In the heat of the mid-day sun,
Ndanatsiwa chose to drive under the shadow “Down that valley, you see those gum
of three trees. Judith led her to the road trees?”
leading into the school were they posed for
photographs. “Yes.”
“This is where your biological father “Between those gum trees and that dry
taught for about twelve years.” stump of a tree if you perceive about a
kilometre away is the rural home where I lived

boomerang boomerang
while my husband masqueraded in the city of “So my dad used to leave the school to
Harare almost a year and a half.” Judith said come and see you?” Ndanatsiwa had asked.
remembering years before Ndanatsiwa was
born. “He did not come home or contact me. I “Yes, when it was dark he slipped in
was like a slave working for his elderly parents three to four times a week for several months
who watched over me like an eagle watching until my pregnancy caused a furore. You know
a pack of mice moving around. They made young men can be quite romantic. The old
sure no male came near me because I was still couple tried to stay awake until I was asleep.
ravishingly beautiful. To think I was so loyal He would come around midnight leaving within
thinking Wallace would see reason. He didn’t two hours. An elder man can’t do that. You
unfortunately.” need the strength to walk the distances, the
light footedness to make no noise, the ability to
“What happened to Wallace?” she befriend the dogs during daytime and sharp
asked. sight because he only came when there was
no moon for obvious reasons.
“The last I knew was when I was a
mother of three when I met him in Runyararo “Then I made it like that to spat on
Road. I asked about his life and he confessed Wallace before I realised that I was actually in
that he had married after me and divorced. love with your biological father. He however,
Since then I have no idea where he went. He was afraid of s scandal in moving in with
liked his women but at the same time he someone’s wife so things did not work out as I
allowed his parents to intervene in his marriage. had anticipated in the end.”
The fact of having a wife in the rural area while
a man dates someone else has destroyed “Mother, there is a lot that you hid from
many generations. A married couple should me. Please tell me more details. Why did you
stay close to prevent temptations and keep my paternity a secret?” she asked.
accidents. From Mbare I heard news before
you were fourteen that his father was the first to “Don’t ever, ever invite a young man to
pass away. He should have developed a liver your room during the night while we sleep,” she
problem because he liked illicit beer brew. The had said. “At least I had married. Wait for that.
mother followed some years ago.” Your father is the grandson of a line of chiefs
though his father moved to their present place
near Goto Mission.”
boomerang boomerang
“Why did you hide all this from me, “His father never succeeded to the
mother?” she asked. chieftainship. The line was too long and life did
not allow. You know our system of chiefs where
“Ndanatsiwa some things are best left an elder brother is succeeded by the next in
unsaid. Look at the fact that someone is spilling age be it a sibling or half brother. This would
beans on every move you make from your not have been very complicated had men
abortion to every boyfriend you have had. Had married a single woman. However he decided
they known you were a teacher’s daughter to move to Hwedza to set up a rural home
born out of wedlock, what do you expect?” there and head a nearby school.”
Judith had put her arm around her daughter’s
waist.
”I will not mention this to anyone. Yes, ____________________________________

everyone in the country would have known
that. Mom you owed me the right to know my
biological father. We all make mistakes when
we grow up. I made my won worse mistakes
than yours. However I love you mother. Had
you aborted me like I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Your father was known by his totem

that is why when you had his surname no one
raised an eyebrow. Besides which he could not
marry me for fear of a scandal. His grandfather
was a chief of an area that has since changed
boundaries shrinking as the population grows.
Out of the old chieftainship that existed during
his grandfather’s time has been made two
different but distant related chieftains. He was
in line for the chieftainship through his own
father who was also in line through his male
siblings and half brothers.

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sere (8)

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____________________________________
The girl stood in the street. She was

about a metre and sixty-five centimetres tall.
She had a slim boyish looking body with a small
noticeable bust. She talked rapidly without
resting. She threw her face which was oval in
front of her as she spoke. The rest of the body
followed behind the mango shaped head. She
took her breath far in between in gulps as if she
was getting drowned. The man she stood with
was taller than her with broader shoulders and
a higher weight. He was listening. She talked
with him occasionally touching her shoulders to
which she thrust his hands away.
“So, who is she to you?” she asked

pointing almost pocking him in the eyes.
The man was at pains to explain again.
“She is from the same rural area as I,”

he started saying. “We have the issue of
sahwira. We get so friendly in that customary
trait that she hugs me and holds my hands like
a girlfriend.”
“Mhanduwe, don’t lie. I wasn’t born

yesterday,” she accused. “I saw that leery eye
you gave her, pushing her like a girlfriend from
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the small of the back. Yopu were all over her A few days later he came home from
like a hyena seeing a lion with a kill.” work and found her waiting for him at his
singles quarters. She was in a green polycotton
“I am telling the truth.” dress that she had gathered in between her
legs. She was not very tall not fleshy. She did
“Go to her place then,” she had not beautiful either. He didn’t know why he
turned. She started walking away. liked her so much. He was like a duiker looking
at the colours flashing on the stomach of a
“Gladys!” he ran and caught her by
leopard in grass.
the elbow.
“What is it Gladys?” he asked as soon
“Let me go.”
as he had turned the corner. “What do you
“What if you break with me and you think it is?” She had fired back. “You are so
discover you are pregnant?” he asked the last apprehensive by just seeing, me here yet you
in a whisper looking around that none would liked stealing into my rooms in Strathaven for a
hear it. “Let’s discuss like grown up people.” bit of fun didn’t you? That fun is all that matters
to you now.”
“Oh,” she had replied. “I will just dump
the baby at your workplace. Your mother can “I didn’t say that.”
do well by raising it up.”
“Your looks and manner do say that.”
“Do we need break up on suspicion that
“You are too short tempered,” was all
I was seeing another woman?” he asked. “We
he had said. He opened the door. He had told
had a good relationship going.”
the truth. She was rough of speech. She was
“What am I to you?” she asked. quick to speak more than she was quick to
listen.
“You are a friend.”
“I came to see you,” she stated.
“Mhanduwe is that all? The European
family I work for will expect me to be home. I She had entered the room. Some things
will see you later,” she had said. were done with speed then negotiations
followed afterwards when people were
boomerang boomerang
sheepish. After five minutes he left and was “Not mine. Don’t even come close to
back about an hour later. Supper was ready. me,” he had said.
“Is everything all right?” he asked. They had an argument and a fight. He
tried using fists but she could throw fist for fist.
“I am in between jobs,” she had said. She could aim and attack. He ended up on
“Don’t worry I am not eloping for you. I am the floor with her holding a pan which was
moving from one family to another. Maybe this working on his face. The neighbours managed
time I will be back to work for a European to rescue the situation. He slept outside while
family in Lochnivar because blacks are a she slept on the bed.
problem. Had I not come you were going to tip
toe at a Strathaven home, the workers She left the next morning. That was the
cottage. You would have received a beating first night he had not touched her. When she
of your life.” came back a week later there was a new
tenant in the quarters who had never heard of
That day he slept early. William.
She found another job three weeks “Where does he work?” the new
later where she could come and visit him every tenant had asked.
weekend. One day she came overnight.
“I think I know the company in
“Mhanduwe.” Willowvale,” she had replied. Two weeks later
she visited the company.
“What?”
“Mhanduwe the driver?” the guard
“I am going to have a baby.” had asked,
“Whose?” he asked. “Yes,” she had eagerly replied.
“Whose do you think? When you were “He was fired for coming to work dead
sharing those mouth to mouth sweets what did drunk more than two weeks ago. I haven’t
you think was the end product? Why were you seen him since. Maybe he went rural to
grunting squinting your eyes? Why did you like reconsider.”
me to tell you your own totem?”
boomerang boomerang
That was the moment a baby in “What is it?” One of the senior mothers
someone’s tummy decided to kick. asked.
“What about a driver’s assistant called “Some men passing by the patch of
Charles Maputi?” green mealies there heard a baby crying.
Some loose lady dumped her baby there.”
“He is on two months leave starting last
week but one. He went rural.” “Hold on,” the reverend’s wife
instructed. “We need rush the baby first to the
nearest clinic or hospital before going to the
police. Mrs. Kangira, come with me. Would you
____________________________________ also like to come?”
The pastor’s wife had asked the one

holding the baby. The question was answered
The women group were finishing their
when the pastor drove into the clinic with four
prayers and projects at the church when they
ladies. The baby was washed, cleaned up,
started hearing loud chatter. Though they
bandaged and fed. The little group shuttled
concentrated on finishing up they could hear
from the clinic to the police station and back
tit bits of conversation outside the church. The
to the clinic with a lady police officer to take
chatter was coming from outside the church
statements. There was excited talk as the
perimeter where there were fields which
witnesses told the constable what they had
people tilled when the rains came. Most
heard from the men who had called them in
people had a rural background hence they
upon discovery of the baby boy. The reverend
wanted their rural greens at harvest time.
took the lady police woman back to the
They planted maize, pumpkins, beans, station while the rest went home.
jugo beans, monkey peas and other crops. The
Early on the morrow Nyashadzashe
fields at night were the preserve of hoodlums
Kangira found herself at the clinic looking at
because green crops gave them cover from
the little boy dressed in napkins only who was in
the tower lights. Soon a group of women
a little glass.
stormed the church gates one of them holding
a parcel in her hand, running and trotting.

boomerang boomerang
“That is the baby I was talking about,” television show Mukadota and Family.
she addressed her husband. “He was lucky to Everyone was excited and digesting the news.
be heard crying by those men. Ants had The police were eager to question a maid
started swarming all over him. The women who servant called Gladys Mabvakwese. She had
picked him up used their mouths to blow some been a maid for some time in the locality. Her
little ants off his wrapper and body.” former employer had told the police she had
been pregnant. She had disappeared into thin
“What manner of a woman dumps a air.
male baby in a field to die?” he asked.
“So mother, you took some clothes,
“So girls should be dumped?” asked a lotions and food to the clinic, what will
nurse with a smile. happen?” asked her daughter.
“No, “ he had replied. “We all make “Miriam if you play around with men,
mistakes my sister. You bring the child to your you will end up like the mother of that child,
parents and they will look after it.” dumping a baby,” Nyashadzashe had replied.
“Richard some African parents are “You haven’t answered my question
saying take your pregnancy where you got it. mother,” Miriam replied.
The girl may have had no option. However
dumping a baby is a very dangerous option “I and the other ladies will keep visiting.
because it involves giving birth alone and It’s been a week now since the incident,”
keeping secrets. What is there are birth Nyashadzashe had advised. “The baby boy is
complications?” Nyashadzashe said. “Let’s doing well now. The last time the clinic said he
hear what else the baby requires above what had passed the 2, 2 kg birth weight.
the church women brought in.”
“Mom what if you took the baby here
“Your mother is a task master,“ Richard and raised him? I only have one brother
said to the same nurse. Takunda Richard junior and when he is at
school _________,” Virginia suggested.
There were at home having supper
talking about the event too excited even to “Virginia,” Richard started. “What type
watch a local comedian doing his tricks on the of an idea is that? It is much against our
boomerang boomerang
Africans custom. If we need adopt, we will “Moses the best prophet that ever
collect from our relatives and raise children lived was adopted by pharaoh’s daughter,”
up.” Miriam had suggested.
“Daddy,” Virginia had replied. “That is “The blacks in America adopt

incorrect. You raised that grandson of chief frequently. We always hide under our culture,”
Mapinga and what did he do? He married Virginia had replied.
without even advising you. How much does it
cost to say I want to marry here is my bride to “I will call the pastor and his wife for a
be? Whereas if you adopt the adopted child is conference.”
yours forever. If there are spiritual problems
then its time the family learn about collective “Nyashadzashe ________”Richard had
prayer. Why didn’t you marry three wives like complained.
your cousins? We have to constantly adopt
He had to drive his Ford Anglia through
changes into our culture.”
the church again where his wife was consulting
“Worse things than that about relatives’ the pastor. Afterwards, they had to drive to the
children,” Nyashadzashe had replied. “They Social Welfare department and an orphanage
don’t become your children. They remain the where the baby had been taken. They filled in
extended family. That is a good idea Virginia. I forms and brought proof of residence and
have been mulling that for a week.” employment status for Richard.
“No,” Richard had said, “If you want In the end a European handed the little
another baby ________.” baby at three weeks to Nyashadzashe.
“Richard, the last time I almost died “Meet tomorrow at Market Square so
having Miriam don’t forget what you said. I am we can get the little urchin a birth certificate,”
not going to have another baby, ever but I am the European had handed papers to Richard.
welcome to the idea of adopting the little
That night home it was for the strange
boy.”
little baby boy.
“No more children but no adoption
either.”
boomerang boomerang
“What will we call him?” asked Richard explained as was customary

Nyashadzashe. though he knew the old tiger had been briefed
by the bush telegram. He shuffled his feet. He
“Richmond,” suggested Richard. had received a lot of flak from when he had
married that he was always letting g his wife
have her way. Unfortunately none of the flak
_________________________________ had come from his parents. His father was a
diplomat who kept his lips sealed. One could
not tell if he approved or not. He selected
“I heard that you picked up a boy in solitude when arguments came up.
the streets,” Kangira said.
“Well honestly Richard, it is none of my
“Yes, “he had replied. business. My business is wood,” the older man
had enthused. “I have had enough, what with
“People explained it different terms. getting thirteen children from two wives of
Someone came to me and said has Richard which three passed away before I did. At least
run short of relatives with children? I replied that I beat you all children.”
those relatives can also pick children from the
orphanages that way the government would “Dad, none of us children married two
close the department of social welfare.” wives.”
“Thank you very much father for the “All the same I beat you all by thirteen
much valued support and advice.” to four for you. Now make that five but you
need eight more to make it equal.”
“Why is it that someone marries and
wants another person to look after their child “Thank you my father. I have received
while interfering with the process only to snatch a lot of flak from every Tom, Dick and Harry
the child when they are working or before about the young baby boy. I would have liked
marriage? If you can have children, look after to keep it a family secret but people are
your own. Both Islam and Christianity say it’s a broadcasting the issue. Everyone is explaining
sin not to look after your own.” without being asked what had happened.”

boomerang boomerang
“We tend to be mesmerised by what “Who is Virginia?”

does not matter to us,” the older man had said.
“When last did you pass through Goromonzi “My eldest daughter who is at Harare
near Marondera?” Hospital as a nurse student final year,” she had
replied.
“It’s been a while. I last passed through
your old place to see the chief, our uncle when “Richmond said he had two mothers so I
I was with his nephew the army officer.” was just clarifying.”
__________________________________ “Okay that is his elder sister. He has three

sisters and a brother.”
“What is this elder brother doing?” she

Nyashadzashe stood near Jabavu Road had asked.
leading to Mhofu Primary School in Highfield
road awaiting the arrival of the lady teacher “Oh, he is at Kutama College starting his
she knew stayed near the street. She had first year as a boarder,” she replied as they
allowed Richmond to move ahead because moved.
she didn’t want him listening to his teacher’s
concerns. Presently she saw the teacher “Do you know that Richmond has a craft
coming with a hat on her head. he is good at? He like carving with a small knife
and he produces from wood certain objects.
They did their greetings. There are periods every time when kids can be
creative. Some do crotchety, weaving, sewing
“I am Richmond’s mother,” she had and boys try painting and art. Richmond finds
introduced herself. pieces of wood throw away by the wood work
class for junior boys. Out of them he creates
“I suspected you were a mother of one things the girls fight for,” she had replied. “I will
of my pupils,” she had replied. “Come before I confess. I gave him a piece of soft wood, a
get roasted by the headmaster for being late. block of it. He made four doves of different
We will talk.” sizes which are in my display unit at home.”
“Yes?” “Yes, we saw that.”

boomerang boomerang
“There is a European who normally The child pierced together what the
comes to my church who has been talking elder man was saying. It was an honour for a
about this type of art including visual arts, white person to talk to a black boy. These were
drawing or knitting or sewing things and the ruling class. It was like a child of a Negro
objects. I would invite you to church on slave being singled out for favours by the
Saturday 1400hrs,” she had replied. “You need master. It did not mean they would be free
to see this gentleman maybe he and persons. However, it meant life would be more
Richmond will start a mentor and student bearable and easier.
relationship.”
“Oh?”
Nyashadzashe had dutifully bundled her
eight old charge with her to the Dutch “He keeps the trunk down when running
Reformed Church on a Saturday at 1400hrs. away from enemies. It weighs something.
While the adults were talking shop within the When running away, his trunk is tucked under
house of the Lord, Richmond had a small blunt his lips before his front feet. When he charges
parrying knife while a European looked at an enemy at short distance, that is when he
uninterested, he spied an elephant with his raises the trunk.”
trunk in the air, stomping the ground as he ran
ostensibly from poachers appearing, roughly __________________________________
but surely.
“What is the elephant doping?”

They went rural arriving on the evening
“It is running away from a group of on a Friday. They left in a Toyota Crown 1990, 2,
poachers,” Richmond had replied. “I didn’t 491cc Royal extra station wagon. It had rails on
carve the poachers. I don’t like people who kill top where a roof had been fitted and here
elephants for their tusks.” would be their groceries and travelling bags. It
was not surprising that any highway police man
“When the elephant runs away from first looked at the roof rack. Then they
poachers he doesn’t raise his trunk. He does pronounced the vehicle was over-laden and
that to smell the air for enemies,” the European the luggage on top would be weapons when
had said in broken Shona to Richmond. there was a vehicle accident. The children
piled into the boot space while adults
boomerang boomerang
occupied the bench seat behind the driver refuge from the rains out of verandas as it
and his wife. rained within there.
When they left 28th Street in Highfield In some days they went to Vengere
heading west for Jabavu Drive, it was raining residential area to visit one of Richard’s half-
yet it was not yet summer. Jabavu Drive led sisters who would create quite a banquet for
them north east before leading them east the large family. Her husband had
towards Lewisham Road. They moved into approached Kangira with a business idea. He
Mangwende Drive West before turning north and Kangira had sat before a European who
along Bvunzawabaya Street .In time they had changed the idea. Now the brother-in law
emerged in Willowvale Road heading towards had an eatery near the bus terminus which
the south-east from where they emerged in they ran as a family.
Seke Road driving down past Chitungwiza
Police Station to their left. At times they stopped in town. They
would sit around an eatery table to share a
They went through the outer fringes of meal that included minerals drinks. They would
Seke rural making a left turn after where there talk much exchanging experiences and asking
was a confluence of roads, to the lefty was after each other’s health. Aunt Fatima being
Mahusekwa Road, with a little bit further on a close to was more of a frequent visitor
fork of Hwedza Road. They turned left into therefore she was well armed and
Hwedza Road heading north and east towards knowledgeable.
Mutare Road that they joined slightly before
Marondera. “Father,” Richard had said on the
morrow when the older man had emerged
They headed about ninety kilometres from his bedroom to sit on his court. There was
further away from Marondera into Rusape. The no log fire because it was warm in the morning.
town had two main roads that made a T. To Every male within was seeking the refuge of the
the south was Mutate Road and to the east thatched roof which prevented the intensity of
was Nyanga Road. They turned east for their the sun while the open sides allowed the wind
rural area bin Makoni district. The heat had free reign.
receded giving way to sometimes a violent
storm. Showers of rain were being pushed “I hear you.”
forwards by the wind forcing those seeking
boomerang boomerang
“I want you to check the boy’s “Business. You can follow. If I need go to
handiwork.” the toilet I will make you stand away from the
wind,” Kangira had Richard laughing.
“Which boy is that?”
“Dad for years I used to walk with you
“Richmond,” Richard gave Kangira a through these woods though half of them have
carving. been hacked down to make farmland,”
Richard had replied.
“Did he make this?” Kangira asked
looking at a wood carving. He turned the “And you and your wife have hands that
carving over and over slowly as if mesmerized can’t till the land,” Kangira had suggested.
by a dream. “These grandchildren’s names
confuse me, Richard junior and Richmond.” “We hire people.”
“Yes,” “That is wisdom that I learnt at an early

age. You pay someone for professional services
“Good,” he had replied. “That alone which you are not able to perform or are too
does not make him at par with my craft. It does tedious for manual tasks. How is your piggery,
show some roughness that needs to be worked fowl runs and other projects doing?”
on. Art is a craft that requires one to put their
mind before they can be successful.” “I can’t complain father.”
Richard thought the old man was being “People thought I was bonkers when I
too proud. After breakfast, the old man called made my craving giving them to whites in
Richmond up. He had his walking cane and a Marondera and Rusape to sell on my behalf.
bag of tools. He didn’t appear to notice that Those that I felt were cheating, I simply side
two sons and a daughter had driven all the stepped.”
way to see him. He rose now.
The older man pointed at Richmond with
“Where to father?” asked Richard. his cane.
“You tie up your shoe laces. There are

snakes in the woods. It takes less time to die of

boomerang boomerang
their bite than to run away. Watch were I step up with their rural friends and relatives
and follow. Frostbite is a better and slower killer exchanging experiences. The rural relatives
than snakebite. I haven’t died from frostbite also made it to town to see their relatives. It did
though I have suffered from it every winter.” well for them to write constructive compositions
of what they had experienced. They went
“Okay grandfather.” fishing, herding livestock, harvesting, chasing
imaginary thieves and wildlife using their dogs.
Richard knew where his massive sense of They helped in every other activity that
humour came from. He followed the trail into required their attention on the rural
the forests where Kangira found his usual homesteads.
place. He laid his tools down and started his
craft while Richmond borrowed some tools. The “Grandfather,” Richmond had sounded
rest did the talking and fetching of objects and one time.
water and lunch. In the evening they returned
home. “Yeah that is me.”
“What is your comment on Richmond?” “Dad says you went to Johannesburg

asked Richard. one time?”
“He is one of us,” was all that his father “The Europeans took me there. Those
had said. Every time he came near to people raised me up. They put me on a
Highfield, he would request to see Richmond’s pedestal. Have I tried representing myself with
crafts which were displayed to him. He my craft I would be tilling the land for a packet
critiqued Richmond only in the boy’s ears. of sugar. They dressed me up shaving my hair
and beard, trimming me. If you go into the
foyer before the main lounge the photographs
in black and white attest to that.”
__________________________________
“Tell me more,” Richmond said.
They carved sitting in a forest clearing.

One time the kids went rural as they did From here they had a vantage point over the
every school holiday. It was a chance to catch homestead. They could not discern who was
boomerang boomerang
moving over there. However they could see “I brought home goods not readily
visitors who drove in by motor vehicles. They available to the African in Rhodesia. Among
could intercept these by climbing down the hill the chests that I railed in I brought a radio,
if need be. jackets for your grandmothers and blankets
that are so warm in winter especially in these
“I was about forty years old then. Your hills. I brought wooden crates of stuff including
father was not yet born. By these days’ bicycles for your aunts and uncles to take them
standards I wouldn’t have seen you because to school. Those were days of discrimination.”
your father wouldn’t have been born. I went to
Johannesburg where I carved while the “These were the days when my uncles
Europeans watched. I went to East London, and aunts were going to school?”
Port Elizabeth through Johannesburg and
finally Nairobi. There were television crews “Yes and the Europeans who bought my
watching me work. crafts always told me to invest in good
education, Hence none of my children could
“There were other carvers and sculptors go to local schools after the fourth grade. They
too. The Zulus were doing paintwork while their migrated to boarding schools. That was before
womenfolk did quilt work. It was impressive I tell your father Richard was born, I mean when I
you. I concentrated on what I knew best. I did went to Johannesburg.”
my carving from the heart loving every
moment because I couldn’t compete with arts “Was that all grandfather?”
that I don’t know about.”
His grandfather looked around then he
“Then you came back grandfather? How looked at Richmond who was about fifteen
long where you away from home?” years old then.
“These were three separate journeys. The “Your grandmothers, both of them, they
first long one was Johannesburg for about all fell pregnant because I was too hot when I
seventeen weeks then I came back.” returned.”
“What did you bring back?” At that they laughed as they enjoyed
their carving experience.

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“Grandfather, of the two grandmothers side, two from another and two cousins who all
of mine, did you have any favourite?” said their nicknames instead of our
grandfather’s name.”
“No on the night of the dance I didn’t
know which one to select the shorter and “Grandfather Mamhepo, why did he get
fleshier variety of the taller and slimmer ones. If that name?”
a man married more than one wife, they
should not have favourites even with children.” “People looked down on his craft of
drums and dancing. In the absence of both
“Where did the names Mapinga, the Bible and literacy, people assumed his skill
Mamhepo, Mapeto or Kangira come was lead by spirits of the wild. That is why they
from?”Richmond had asked. gave him a name synonymous with the wind
and evil spirits. He had a reputation for doing
“Can you hand over the water?” Kangira drums and dancing very, very well. He got paid
had asked. “We were country bumpkins. When in fowl here, a goat there but mostly a keg of
the civilization started encroaching we went to beer because we have a way of exploiting
get identity documents. In those days people each other then we blame the Europeans.
had to move with their identity papers and When he was drunk he demanded they give
passes. You could not leave the rural area him a single mother unmarried. The single
coming into town without a pass. There was no mothers complained that when he was drunk
pass without an identity document. Women he did stuff that hurt.”
were not bothered. No black woman could
buy any major asset without her brother or Again they laughed.
husband by her side. An identity document
looked like an A-5 piece of paper and it was a “Later some European and influential
paper. We said our nicknames instead of the African Rhodesians heard of Mamhepo. He
family name.” was called to many cultural festivities where he
emerged with a homeland, cattle and a
They had a laugh again. “So the names reputation. Those women who had rejected
held?” him for being a drunkard who could dance
and play the drums found themselves
“It is up to infinity down the generations. regretting. He had a penchant for women
There were seven of us, three siblings from one however. He also married by making three
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women pregnant in five years. By the time he “He had started naming a fair prize for
passed away, he had added to his harem rural performance not just a keg of traditional
three former single mothers that we knew and brew which at times was so illicit it caused
many we didn’t know.” drunkards to go early to the grave. The only
problem was the further from home the more
“Why did the women on cultural likely he brought a woman. Three of those he
activities agree to his demands?” married and had children with later left. There
are Mamhepo(s) in Sanyati where his former
“Mamhepo was handsome and wife returned. There are Mamhepo(s) in Kitwe
charming when he was sober. Single women because he had taken a Banda woman. There
looked forward to harnessing life-long partners are Mamhepo(s) in Gutu where another
not being used as fodder by the likes of woman returned before the war. ”
Mamhepo. A few bored and irritated fathers
had beaten him once in a while for enticing “You kept it at two?”
their daughters into illicit activities. Single
mothers and divorcees did well for him “Yes and I know my children. All of them I
because they had lesser expectations. After all, know by name and physical looks. My brother
he left them with most of the dance payments. did not know all his children because he
The name Mamhepo was coined because of fathered children by all his women. I wasn’t to
his erratic behaviour when drunk.” believe there may be about three in
Goromonzi and two out there, who knows
“So now people respect him?” where? If you hear of a dancer who jumps over
drums and plays the drums, check their
“Why can’t they respect a person who appearance, they may be your great uncle or
shook hands with various European district great cousin _________.”
commissioners? He was being called to
perform in places as far afield as Bulawayo, “Grandfather, what if one of our
Gatooma, Gwelo, Nkayi, Gokwe, Wankie, generations would be like your brother moving
Lusaka, Ndola or Kitwe to name but a few. As I from one single woman to another?”
left Marandellas then, Mamhepo had started
realizing that his lavish and reckless activities “Your age are now decimated by
were costing his future. That is when he started diseases from illicit activity. In our time a man
settling down. could smoke or drink as much as he could
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take. Now you are dying of lung cancers. You set in rural areas where there was a forest,
are dying of liver problems caused by alcohol three generations and dance festivals moist
content. You are getting insane at an early times. The teacher had told Richard that his son
age from smoking too much marijuana. could describe a dead tree slowly becoming
Maybe, my brother will have one like him.” manure alongside the woodpeckers picking at
the worms within in detail.
“What of chief Mapinga of Goromonzi?”
“Have you ever read of Daniel Arap
“He was a crook who took away what Moi?” grandfather asked,
should have been mine. They approached me
after he had died. I rejected the offer because “He was the president of the republic of
I have seen better things to do than fight for Kenya.”
the chieftainship. My principals who found me
markets or what they call fences, advised me “I shook his hand. I met part of his
against the chieftainships because I would not cabinet. I was there for seven weeks doing
concentrate on carving. These days what some great carving as part of a team to
happened to me would have been taken to create murals for their Mau-Mau rebellion
court. The courts would have examined the shrines,” Kangira had explained.
customary way of choosing a chieg. Maybe I
would have become chief Kangira of a part of He had described in detail what had
Goromonzi.” transpired. Ironically Mamhepo was there on a
cultural exchange program. He was showing
them how to dance. He had this way of kicking
his left foot out and right foot out before
__________________________________ jumping over two sets of drums and those
holding them. He appeared in a front page of
the Daily Mail with legs spread out one
hundred and forty degrees jumping over both
“Grandfather, then you went to drums and men holding them as if heading
Nairobi?” asked Richmond. towards President Arap Moi.
A teacher had described Richmond’s “Wow.”
compositions as being lively and imaginatively

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“I will give you a piece of advice my that from the moment I thought of them highly
grandson which I liberally give to all the village and married both, I never looked at another
children here. Don’t waste your youth. Find woman again. I was a straight and principled
your niche and go in hot and penetrating. young man. Do the same Richmond when you
When you find your vocation don’t let people are eight to ten years from now. Don’t
stall you.” compete with these running with women into
bushes because you will compete for the same
“Yes.” women passing on diseases and misfortune.”
“Don’t waste your manhood chasing “It’s no longer advisable to follow our
after girls. Just close your eyes and pick the one culture of many wives,” Richmond had
all the men say is the most difficult to interjected.
approach.”
“Yeah I know. My choice was one girl
“You mean the no-nonsense type of a who had a god friend so I took both by
girl grandfather? You mean the type of girl that circumstances I will explain one day. You of
insists on a love offering for her father first these days say its anathema to have three
before anything else?” wives yet you go on to have children outside
marriages and you maintain girlfriends who
“Yes. A man who goes to the bed of a produce children whose paternity you are not
married man with a woman is taking a risk. The as certain as your married partners’ are.”
woman can be pregnant of either or none of
you. You risk getting your neck on a dead tree “By this time grandfather, my father was
with the husband holding a sharp axe. You call in school?” Richmond asked.
another man’s children your own while yours
languish in poverty. Marry well and stick to your “He was in high school like some of his
morals, huh?” brothers or half-brothers all the same. The boys
went to St. Augustine, Kutama and Fletcher
“I hear grandfather. But what of the while the girls went to St. Faith in Rusape or
stranger called love?” Bonda Mission. Now Richmond you should find
a good woman.”
“I don’t remember if I was in love with
your two grandmothers. I however remember “What is a good woman grandfather?”
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“That is a woman whom your heart When her mother had arrived from her
yearns for thirty years after you married her. Thursday meeting at church she had relayed
Look at our villages here, these little grand the information.
children of mine are not your type. You need
search for a woman who will stand with you “Mom?”
when you are out in a foreign country speaking
through your nose. Not a woman who will look “Yes Chiedza?”
at the Europeans once and becomes a bitch
“How are you related to this Rusape
in heat for the money.”
grandfather?”
____________________________________
“My father and his were cousins,” she
had replied.
“I am called Richard Kangira. I am your They had gathered in Rusape where the
mother’s male cousin from Makoni.” Richard old man was suffering from his breathing
had said as soon as he had managed to catch ailment.
his breath.
“Father, do we take you to hospital?”
“I know. I suspected you look alike those Richard’s eldest brother had asked.
of my uncles from Marondera.”
As the eldest he was in charge of
“Thank you. Tell your mother that this keeping the family together.
week we are headed for Rusape. The old man
“No,” the old man had shown by his
is having problems breathing. He has been sick
hands. “No, no.”
off and on. If she requires a ride, I leave
Highfield by 1800hrs. I will not collect people at After sometime he motioned with his
their homes. That would see us driving at hands. One of Richard’s stepsisters reached
0400hrs.“ over.
“I will advise to my mother,” the girl had “He is calling for Richmond.”
replied.

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“Go call him,” instructed the eldest “Richard?”

brother.
“Dad, he is calling you,” Richmond had
“He is probably asleep.” said.
“Then wake him up.” Richard had come to kneel nearby.

Kangira held his hand.
“Richmond in the best of days is a light
sleeper,” Richard’s wife had replied. “Richard.”
Richmond appeared. He went to his “Father?”

grandfather’s side.
“Of my six sons and five daughters, who
“Help me up,” croaked the old man. sired the boy Richmond?”
“He says rise him up,” Richmond had “Father I wouldn’t know. I have asked
said. with no answers. What is none of my siblings or
half-brothers are responsible?”
They obeyed. The old man whispered
something to Richmond. “He has the Kangira blood in him, find
out! Check from my notorious brother,
“Uncle Denford is requested,” he had Mamhepo’s progeny scattered all over. He is
replied. one of us. Where is Richmond?”
“He did not make it here,” another man “Here he is father,” Richard took
replied. “Maybe he will.” Richmond’s hand in that of the old man. He
moved back.
“Uncle Denford is outside,” Richmond
had advised the old man. “The two of you, you Richmond and
Denford the son of my brother are much like
He made a motion with his hands. me. Denford sculptures with stone but we two
Kangira nodded. “He came in rather late. He are the only wood carvers in the village,” he
has driven through the night.” had said breaking into laughter.

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“That is right grandfather,” Richmond

had said.
“What did he say?” an aunt had asked.

Richmond translated for the adults.
“Richmond?’
“Grandfather?”
“Don’t ever carve me.”
“Yes grandfather.”
“Tell them to let me lie down, gently. The

European is coming to inspect my carvings.”
“Grandfather said let him lie back,

gently.”
Kangira looked at Richmond before the

mist started in his eyes. He pointed with his
finger as if to say, never, never, never. The wise
eyes and the sharp nose that looked like a
beak of a bald eagle lost their aura. The eyes
became listless. He succumbed to a deep
sleep from which he needed not wake up
again.
Maybe another type of European had

taken him home.

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pfumbamwe
(9)

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____________________________________ “Neither do you have your family Bible,

don’t preach ____,”another had advised.
“I have been asked to say a few words

“Beloved ladies and gentlemen hereby relating to the deceased. We have heard
present, all due respects to the chief of the words from our father’s sisters and related
area, the headmen present, village heads, families. We also heard words from the families
fathers and mother, our in laws either sides and of our close relatives from Marondera with
everyone present,” Richard had said moving whom the deceased last lived regularly more
slowly looking down then up as he presented than sixty years ago. Time does not dissolve
his speech. relationships. We are still related, through
Adam. They came all the way from Goromonzi
It was a feat to be asked to say a word East.
on the funeral of one’s father. However he was
the one fit enough to stand up and say a word With all due respect and all protocol
because of several factors. The most talkative observed, you are here to lay to rest our father,
people at large gatherings were those who grandfather or great uncle, uncle, paternal or
were born orators, teachers, politicians, maternal whatever the case depending on the
evangelists or in the ministry of agriculture situation. Some came as far as Wenimbi,
working as rural agricultural demonstrators. Svosve and even South Africa where the family
They were used to addressing large crowds. is busy settling. I can honestly say that there are
Politicians were the worst, they could tell the countries represented here from South Africa,
crowd the deceased would still vote in their Namibia, Botswana, Zambia. Mozambique,
grave! Kenya and others. So it’s an international
funeral.
“Before you speak mukoma,” someone
had pointed out. “Remember you are not “Grandfather Kangira was not
wearing gumboots or hard area hats or those educated in the modern sense. He went as far
protective shoes of yours.” as standard 4 which is equal to fifth or sixth
grade in school these days. You no longer do
“I think you need a dip, munin’ina,” Arithmetic. You now do Mathematics. You no
Richmond had replied. longer do Latin. They did cursive writing. You
now write like a cock turning 360˚. At sometime
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he lived in Chikwaka with his father’s sister for None of us have been there. I have been to
about four years. He was a woodsman. A man Victoria Falls,” Richard had explained to which
at home when he had a sharp piercing axe like the gathering of close to two hundred
tool with a short handle that he use to carver mourners started laughing.
his wood when he commenced his work
before he refined his creations with chisels, Richard waited until the laughter had
mattocks and files. subsided.
The first peculiar thing about him was “Grandfather in his time had three
that he could use two separate logs with no brothers and two sisters added to which he
joints and no glue to make a chair that is about had about eleven half-brothers and sisters from
nine years younger than me but is still being different wives of his own father. I will call out
used. These days we have gone indigenous. If names. These people should just stand up then
any of you want, I have some indigenously I will give them a kick each before they sit
made sweets in my pockets. The manufacturer down.”
did not put plastic wrappings. My handkerchief
is in there too _______. “ Richard called out names. Several
people stood up.
There was laughter as a point was
made. “In our culture each of these standing
are representing grandfather’s brothers, sisters,
“In spite of his lack of formal education, half-brothers and that is a union of different
no one here could speak the English language people under the banner of culture. Thank you,
like grandfather did. I remember growing up as you can take your seats if they haven’t been
a young man. Grandfather could correct our taken. Some of you came from Sanyati near
spoken English from the sense to the Gokwe. That means pall bearers really enjoy
pronunciation. I am not the first born so think of their jobs. You would wonder at the distances
what it means. None of us have been to the travelled by people to hear me speak.
countries he went to including India where he
made a carving of Gandhi their founding “I said earlier, grandfather Kangira was
father. He was quartered at some time for not formally schooled though he was able to
about two months before uhuru in Kenya, read and write. None of his children went to a
Mombasa while making uhuru murals there. day secondary school. Yet when those eagle
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sharp eyes pierced at us, we ended up telling Richard paused because people were
the truth. The seniors knew I was very good at beside themselves with laughter.
keeping secrets that is unless my father looked
at me or my mothers pulled my ear or raised “Richard!”
me by the face with both hands on my cheeks.
I don’t know why the KGB doesn’t try those “At school we gave teachers names.
tactics. We also gave each other names or short cuts
to long names. None of grandfather Kangira’s
“We did our stuff at local village school children failed to be supported after finishing
up to grade five or six before we transferred to secondary or high school either in college or
boarding schools. The first day at boarding vocational studies. He even went on to take
school, someone taught me to be wise by the eldest two occasionally from his sisters, half-
putting me inside a cupboard and leaving me sisters, brothers and half-brothers to do the
there. Those of us that have been in same. Grandfather Kangira scored many firsts
cupboards, they only operate one way know in his life.
the feeling. When I was a young boy, my elder
brothers or sisters or mothers used to dress me “He was one of the first people to have
up. I wonder why then, when I dressed alone I a phonogram. It was something which was
was able to put two legs into the single socket cranked up. Long playing records were put on
of a short when I can’t do the same today. Last it. A needle was used which produced music.
week I tried it and Nyashadzashe, my wife The music was not like what we hear these
n____.” days ______. In those days boys and girls in their
seniors including men/women too came to
“Richard, stick to the point!” crane their heads to hear the music being
played. Did I mention the speaker was like a
“Alright queen of the castle I heard. horn? It rumbled like thunder in the rain
Those were the days when we went late to season.”
school for one reason or another. My elder
brothers taught me to buckle up after wearing For some time he had to stop to let
two shorts with one inside being a jean short, laughter subside.
resilient and tough. That made the strokes of
the cane lighter. That was until I had a running “We had stacks of records from the
tummy. I needed go to the Blair toilet ____.” Beatles, John Lennon, Hugh Masekela and free
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sermons galore. We heard stories of Noah and affected by weather. It had a long passage
the Ark told in our language by Europeans from one end to another with about six rooms.
speaking accented local languages. He was In time it was razed with the kind and free
the first to have a house with corrugated iron assistance of military personnel trained in
sheeting which when it rained made all people Mozambique holding Bazookas, AK 47 rifles
not hear each other. Then there was no need and RPGs.
for a phonogram. In the heat of summer we
sought shelter outside under the trees. This one “I didn’t know that wood and fire would
had strange architecture never seen in a be used as weaponry especially to set alight
village. our homestead during the war. The villagers
were the cavalry that came in with logs and
“It had half moon walls and windows hammers to break it down. We changed sites
panes were made of wood, never seen before. from a kilometre away to here. I didn’t pay the
The outside doors were made of fabricated villagers who got hurt razing it down because
metal which had no problem with the rains as they didn’t account for the pigs, chickens,
long as it was well painted. We as children did goats and three cattle left in the range. It was
scratches on metals. Then rust came in. That replaced by this one with brick under tile which
was one way of learning about science. Metal has about two wings for bedrooms and several
door frames and metal hinges meant squeaks bedrooms that I won’t mention for security
that foretold our goings especially at night. reasons.
When the old man became inquisitive,
someone taught us to use used engine oil. The “The youngest in the family uses it. He is
old man did not grow wiser. The rest is history. a renowned farmer. If he continues breeding
The first one had three bedrooms and a sitting pedigree beef cattle, pigs and chicken they
room. will soon call him a sell-out. When we started
courting local boys and girls, grandfather got
“The second one had a large veranda. hold of a horse tail hide whip. I stopped writing
We termed it the store because of its shape. love letters. We were good at games. One of
The windows were set within the veranda them was throwing stone to find out if we could
meaning even when it trained we had no hit a stationary target. That was unchallenging.
problem. This was the first house to have We began throwing them to intercept running
wooden doors outside which were not goats, chickens, pigs, sheep and calves.

boomerang boomerang
“We were learning to be the finest tree. The reception had us scratching our
snipers for the military. The adults joined in the backsides. I now know we should have
game. We got walloped if we were seen. Hey approached him in the nude with ashes stuck
going to bed was an extreme in those days. It all over our bodies. Then at night one day there
was child abuse. Imagine two boys sharing a was a ceremony to appease spirits in the dead
single blanket. In winter we knew who had of night with no moon. One of our relatives
stock of the blankets. If you got the blanket you took two live logs, climbed into a tree and hit
lost the pillow. Sleeping by the fireside in the them together moaning like a ghost. There
warm kitchen was great yet grandfather or our were a few broken bones yet there was swift
grandmothers did not allow us this feat for retribution when grandfather discovered it.
obvious reasons. The fact that we didn’t die of
carbon monoxide poisoning or burns means “We were the first to have a two
those three people were very intelligent wheeler bowser dedicated to fetching water. I
indeed. want to believe it could ferry about 500-litres of
water at one go. It made us great friends when
“Then there was the issue of putting others wanted to ferry 20-litres and we were
food in the same plate as per custom and not even one third of the way scooping water
sharing. Then we had a visitor whose palms into the tank. In the end, we used a hose and a
were very large. While it took me fifteen hand operated pump like a bicycle. You had
handfuls to get rid of the hunger, this one did to bend down and cycle using shoulders as
three handfuls to clear the plate. Remember weights and sources of power. It was all right
his share was not there. He had joined the until the neighbour girls came along. In trying to
party when we were eating. I remained show off, we burnt muscles!”
hungry. Then we got to herding cattle, calves,
goats and sheep. Out in the pastures we would “Richard!” Nyashadzashe reprimanded.
milk and gorge ourselves. I don’t know why
grandmother Shashe or Ndanatsiwa or even “You were not supposed to be listening
the late wood carver knew when we milked to history before you came. You were not born
the cows. then. The bowser in the early days was
connected to a set of yokes. We would use
“Grandfather would just look at us about four cattle to ferry the precious
once. He would get a green stem of a pine commodity from a spring well to our home on
two wooden yokes. Don’t ask me who made
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them. Then we were the first ones here to run a “Uncle no wonder why your elder
300-hp Massey Ferguson 294 MFWD tractor. The brothers and sisters opted that you give a
whole village came to see it. The problem was speech. People are now releasing hot air
consumption of food. Everyone wanted to here!”
overstay.
“Elder brother, will you ever finish?”
“People thought there was a funeral.
We connected the bowser, plough, cultivator, “Sorry, we connected it slightly behind
sprayer, seed drill or harrow depending on the the huge rear wheels. Then we engaged a set
mood. I was no longer the field tilling champion of gears while the tractor engine was running.
of the Kangira clan in Makoni district. The The tractor should have been called a multi-
tractor could do that in two or three times purpose military and civilian vehicle. There was
before the crop was ready for harvest. It ran on no need for show off when the neighbourhood
power paraffin rattling along. Uphill one could girls showed up because it took less than
run and wait for it at the top. The difference twenty minutes to fill the bowser.
was that it could tow a bigger load than a
span of eight bullocks. “By then every villager knew what we
were doing because of the din of the engine.
“The Massey Ferguson 294 MFWD came We filled neighbour’s buckets so fast they
alongside a new contraption. This one looked could not bring them fast enough. You
like an air compressor complete with circular remember the story in the Bible about the
cylinders and a drive shaft. It however did not widow and the oil jars? What ran out, the oil or
hiss, puff or gyrate like a Nyau dancer, choke the jars? Oh me, I became a hospitable future
or throttle. It stood on spindly legs like a dancer son in law of every mother around. Did I state
on platforms. It was mounted on a frame on that the water pump sucked water out not
which were mounted a set of two collapsible pushed it out from a submersible pump. The
wheels. One Caucasian who set it up thought it pump stayed above the ground. So first we
was a derrick which we would use to drill for oil. had to haul water into the system until the
We connected a steel pole like shaft to the cylinder could start sucking.
tractor’s behind or backsides.”
“That is when the neighbourhood girls
“Richmond, there are kids here” liked to show up with me having my trousers
wet from the waist down _____. Hey it’s bad to
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think that a guy had lost control of his bowels. “Bravo, tell the youths what we
Then there was a time when I was coming out experienced.”
of a well. There were the mature girls. I was
younger than them. I just like competing with “According to statics released in 1985,
the moiré mature boys. I slipped and went into while we are conducting this funeral over three
the water with a splash. The other guys ran hours, 129 babies have been born and 28
away thinking it was a crocodile. I didn’t know people died.“
that crocodiles would live in shallow wells fed
by spring water.“ “Richard!”
“Richard, are you going to finish?” “The long pole of the water pump had
to be filled with about three five litre buckets of
“I am on page 7 out of 39,”Richmond water by precision before we started pumping.
stated. “I cannot see page 9 though. I will We had to first ferry the buckets to the water
improvise. The Massey Fergusson was soon pump then pour without stopping because
joined by another contraption which looked there was some wastage inside the water
like an old woman mid-wife extending her source. You ask anyone who lives in the city
hands to the air to bless the newly born baby. about the sewer or water bursts they know the
We fed dry maize cobs into it while the tractor difference. As soon as the water reached the
was running. It converted work done by a top of the cylinder, we cracked the pump. Oh,
family of twelve in six weeks into two days work. the tractor gear was engaged to start the
pump.
“All we need was haul it into the maize
field. Then we would haul the trailer too. Then “Our water source by then would have
we would start work with it converting dry gone under by two metres which meant the
maize cobs into maize proper. It also sorted out girls had to do a lot of talking while the water
the maize in sizes. Nothing like that had been seeped back its way up! By then grandfather
seen this side of our rural area. It meant people would be sitting on the mudguard jealously
who used to be fed on rich milk, beef, chicken, watching me drive the Massey Ferguson 294
goat and sheep milk had to go without. None MFWD. If I looked at neighbourhood girls, I
would think of coming to our homestead to changed from the road to the sides.
assist in work in lieu of a meal. The tractor and Grandfather always had a cow hide whip
its implements did not cook for us rather.” nearby.
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“Then we had a Leyland Octopus six was mentioned as a European sidekick who
wheeler truck to ferry produce. It announced needed a live grenade in his mouth.
its arrival by its hissing and coughing but very Unfortunately, most of those that fed the
reliable diesel engine. In winter the engine guerrillas with the wrong information did not
behaved like a German sentry on duty during out survive him. It shows who was blessed
the push into Russia. The sentry could freeze on during the war. Listening to the radio made us
their posts. The engine needed to be warmed appreciate when we heard each other
which was done by idling. That required ear speaking clearly.
muffs if you understand what I mean. The
colour of the truck was underground green. “It helped tune up our ears. We were
You could see where it was by the smoke and the first to have a scotch cart which was
rolls of dust going up. One traditional healer derived from the rear of a disused truck which
once mistook the Leyland for a spirit medium had an axel. It also had springs and a number
when the engine fired. He went on his knees plate though it never paid road dues. It was a
and started clapping his hands throwing wonder here. Then we went solar in time such
tobacco on the ground. that grandchildren could watch television but
the whole village came to see Mukadota and
“Grandfather refused me permission to local drama shows.
ride on the plough. By the time the war had
ended some residences had no toilets but we “The television which was black and
were into another decade with our Blair ones. white was positioned such that it was a metre
He later bought a radio set that operated on a and a half above the ground. The pictures at
battery. We would put a wire into the nearest times drew patterns like clouds before
branch to help the aerial while listening to news adjusting. We watched Redd Foxx and his
from around the world. That is how I got to antics in Sanford & Son so we could tell the
know but not see Jomo Kenyata and Samora township boys who did not have televisions.
Machel. Then there was JJ, Bill Cosby and Dallas. I never
got to be called JR though.
“The static was bad. If you used the
short wave well you could hear Radio “Hey and there were your
Mozambique. We had to go up a hill to catch grandmothers Shashe and Ndanatsiwa rest
it. We stopped listening to it when my father their souls. We were naughty as children. With
grandmother Shashe, she could pull your ear
boomerang boomerang
while going somewhere. As a child you had to had him fashion canes will testify to that. I am
match her speed. Now grandmother not saying he was a saint. When he was ill us his
Ndanatsiwa was a different proposition. She children were the last to know otherwise he first
was the sprinter. You couldn’t out run her told his grand children. He still had knowledge
because she had long legs! When she got hold of the woods, roots and herbs to assist him
of an erratic child, she lifted them by the ears. against illnesses. We at times had him see
That was the only time when my toes didn’t doctors who were surprised he reached the
touch the ground. Look at all my siblings and age of sixty without taking a single anti-Malaria
some of their children who underwent the ear tablet.
treatment. Their ears are a little bit elongated
or offside their heads. Last time I almost got a “I am not saying shun hospitals no. Times
traffic ticket for my ears.” were different and things are different now. We
are eating too many processed or refined
“Richard! Anyone who looks at my ears foods with additives. Somewhere between
will get a cow hide whip on their sitting 1973 and 1979 there was nationalism. The
apparatus.” liberation war affected all rural people
because that is where the war was fought as
“However the life of my father and his the guerrilla tussled with the Rhodesians for
family was not as easy as it sounds here on control of the country. You will be aware that
paper. In reality, we also had funerals of three the Rhodesians and their military machinery did
of our siblings within thirty years after he had not give ground easily neither did the guerrillas
married, one before I was born. Further to surrender. In between there were we as
which grandmother Shashe was the first to civilians caught in crossfire. Unfortunately, my
depart from this world about eighteen to father sold most of his wares to the Europeans
nineteen years ago followed by grandmother and you know the story.
Ndanatsiwa about ten years ago.
“My father was taught about personal
“Grandfather lived to be above the insurance, medical aid, dental aid and life
age of ninety. Though he was active there was savings and pensions by the same people you
no hint of a scandal after he became a fought against. He made sure he invested in us
widower neither did he re-marry. When he had and our future when the going was great for
entered the class of a widower, he could still him. For listening to the white man who
walk long distances without a cane. Those that
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provided him with a market he was branded a was ugly enough to understand my father’s
sell-out. However he was warned by one of you craft. My father knew the woods. By looking at
or your parents a few hours before a gang of the rocks he would tell you to watch out for
armed men arrived to burn the whole what type of plant that would harm you. He
residence down driving away every livestock to knew every type of tree including where to
feed the war. When we were war refugees in pick mushrooms. He also knew the places were
Rusape I used to think that sell-outs were snakes made habitations.
educated people, people with an
independent mind, Christians and those with “He could describe the mellowness of a
assets and businesses. piece of wood by just looking at a log in the
fire. After the war, Kangira and his brood
“Fortunately my father had listened to returned to reconstruct from scratch and today
advice from his European contacts as rumours here we are. I hold no malice to those who
of war approached. He destocked to a enjoyed his misery and ours too. I wonder who
quarter of his might. We lived temporarily in the sell-outs where, him or them who advised
Rusape town renting a house. This was the first the guerrilla to desecrate our homestead.
time in our life that our father and mothers lived However, out of the disasters of the war, we
in the city there. He continued to make his reconstructed by choosing a new place and
wood carving making the grades. For about rebuilding afresh using hygienic and urban
three years I watched him. He suffered from standards.
lack of his normal surroundings. The forests were
no go areas as Rhodesian security personnel “My father liked to equate himself with
were patrolling everywhere. He suffered for Jacob. He always said he left Goromonzi in a
lack of his natural forests. He was at home huff after his birth right had been sold against
walking in the woods with his dog or me his wish. He said when he crossed that river
following.” there; there was just he and a bagful of tools.
Today we are all gathered, his children,
There was laughter. cousins’ children, his grand children and
grandchildren of his in-laws.
“In time I was replaced in following into
the woods by his numerous grandchildren “My father always quoted a biblical
including and not forgetting Richmond. Not verse. He quoted Genesis 49 verse 27 which
only does he almost look like my father but he states that Benjamin is a ravenous wolf who
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hunts during the day and divides the spoils at grandchildren. One of the great grandchildren
night. To him it meant work very well and hard is married and has a two year old son.
in your youth investing so as to sit and relax in
your old age. My father had a British pension “Then there are the differences in
established by one of his contacts who went to generations. In my father’s generation he
the United Kingdom after the war. I think this counted half-brothers/sisters and his step-
European guy was a sell-out. He sold father to mothers until his hands and toes could not help
Southampton Insurance plc registered in the him. I when I grew up numbered them. So I
United Kingdom. could just call out brother #12 or sister #4. Now,
your generation is much better because you
“Besides which he invested in us. He can count your siblings and your cousins all
never lacked. None of us, his blood children with two palms!”
are lodgers because whenever we came of
age, he always had something salted away to After laughing at Richard’s antics in his
help either buy a residential plot or a deposit speech, singing and dancing, the crowd
on any mortgage. Some of us have failed to gathered following pall bearers going towards
take up his artful skills including the dancing the graveyard. They buried Kangira in between
skills of his younger brother and late the two graves of Shashe and Ndanatsiwa, his
grandfather Mamhepo but if you ask where wives. He had made clear when Shashe had
you are sitting there are dancers within our first succumbed to kidney failure years ago
blood. We have wood carvers and stone followed by Ndanatsiwa about fifteen years
sculptors too.” later. They returned a year later to create on
the ground a single grave stone with their
“One each,” someone suggested. history and up above the ground three stones
with their dates of birth and deaths.
“Only two are famous,” Richard had
said. “Some will find their footing. I am artful in Kangira had lived to be 96-years old.
the skill of treating cattle diseases or animal
disease. I know the medication just like a
pharmacist. Call me a livestock pharmacist
with agricultural training. I lost count of the ___________________________________
number of grandchildren but they are more
than twenty with about eight great
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gumi (10

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____________________________________
“Ndanatsiwa where are you off to?“
Lydia had asked in her high pitched

voice. Her voice moderated on it’s on rising
and falling. She spoke like a German soloist
doing a lonely performance rising and lowering
their voice.
“I have an engagement at Denmark

College. I have a few lectures on Corporate
Law and Governance to cover for a male ex-
college mate who is in Namibia for a short
while,” Ndanatsiwa had replied. “Where are
you off to Lydia?”
They walked on the cobbled street.

Had they listened they could have heard their
high heels’ tips sounding on the pavement.
They both wore trousers like female horse riders
in breeches going for a walk with their mounts.
They also had winter jackets because of the
chill. The cloud cover had saturated the
country with cooler temperatures.
“I have to meet Clive,” Lydia tossed her

hair back.
“This Clive business almost every two

days, are you sure he is not married? Looking at

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the hair growth on his chin I suggest he is in the sprung up while some old walls had been
middle thirties,” Ndanatsiwa had replied. “It’s knocked down. Who wanted a ceiling which
not a good idea to date another woman’s had been inserted in the 1970s?
cherry of the picking.”
The tin roof was gone replaced by tiles.
“We are both spinsters, sister!” The ceiling that looked like it was made of
corrugated iron had given way to a new
“So, being late twenties and unmarried modern set. The cooker unit which had 6 solid
warrants hanging out with the married Mr. plates built it looked like it had been fashioned
Coopers?” in the period before jet travel had gone out. It
had been replaced by a Monarch® 4-plate
“He is definitely not married, Ndanatsiwa. electric stove with oven and warmer drawers.
I asked him. He said he is not. I took him on his
word. Woukld you be surprised that there are She had finished running her bath
some men in their thirties who are yet to tie the when there was a knock on the outside door.
knot?” Lydia had replied. “I will see you. Clive is She went and yanked the door open. She
strict on time.” turned sideways by instinct as a liquid was
thrown. Then she screamed, screamed and
“Are you having sex with him?” screamed. When she came to, she was in a
bed at the Avenues Clinic.
“Ndanatsiwa, confound you!”
She picked up a clipboard at the base
“Okay,” Ndanatsiwa proceeded to her
and started reading.
lecture.
“Acid attack ____,”
Clive picked Lydia up heading as usual
out of Harare. They returned two hours later. She went out, out. When she came to a
Lydia made it to her parents place in nurse was shining a torch into her eyes.
Westwood near Kambuzuma. She had her own
access to her spacious bedroom with ensuite “What happened?”
facilities which she had done by converting an
old veranda when the whole house was given “Hold still and keep from blinking.”
a makeover in reconstruction. New walls had

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Later. “I heard your mother say the police have

picked up Clive’s wife for questioning.”
“What happened?”
“Yeah I remember seeing her and two
“You had good braids that we cut off other ladies at the door.”
barely living the hair.”
“Lydia, we do date. However, try as
“Is this the way you answer questions?” much as I can, I stay away from breaking
marriages. I don’t want mine broken. That is if I
“I am explaining. Why rush.” make it into the bridal gown. How did you
know she was his wife when he had professed
“I didn’t come to a hospital because I
to being single?”
have braids, did I?”
“I didn’t know honestly.”
“Some good friend of yours used acid to
attack you. The hair had come over your face “Why do I doubt that?” Ndanatsiwa had
so the hair took the brunt. The acid was meant asked.
for your face. Had you taken it full brunt, not
many men would look at you again.” Her friend was discharged about three
days later. She was back at her normal post as
“I remember now ______. That bitch!” both paediatric nurse in charge of her unit and
a tutor to the student nurses. She knew by the
“We don’t use rude language here.”
stares and whispers behind her back the news
Ndanatsiwa visited her at lunch time. had travelled fast.
“Don’t say a word.”
__________________________________
“I know,” Ndanatsiwa replied. “”I
suspected that he was married. I warned you
the last time we met.” Clive telephoned in the evening before
she was due to leave.
“My sister, I could have lost my face.”
“Lydia here.”

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“Shashe?” Clive gathered his courage and waited

by the counter. There was armoured glass
“That’s me.” before him and a telephone hand set. Besides
which there was a guard close to every
“Clive.” telephone console listening in to the
conversation and watching those seated. He
“What is it?”
picked up the handset. The guard indicated by
”I haven’t sunk my teeth into your bosom hitting his wrist with his long finger. It was timed.
in days.” He wondered if the conversation was
recorded.
“Honey, you need to talk to your acid
throwing wife Clive. I don’t think I and you “Ja!”
should remain an item.”
“What do you want?” she asked point
“She is starting her three months in prison blank.
for your attack ____.”
“I am still your husband.”
“Was there anything else to discuss? We
“I don’t think I need one. There are some
need not talk about that because you and I
ladies here who can do what you should have
are history.”
done in three minutes instead of your eleven.”
“You cost me the freedom of my wife
He watched her face for tell-tale signs of
and this is how you treat me?“ he asked.
her being unwell. Someone had been shrilling
He heard the dull throb of an engaged that she had lost weight. In normal times, Susan
landline telephone note. was just a metre and seventy in height with a
weight of about sixty-eight kilograms. As she
had walked to the console the prison dress had
not shown that the weight was anything less
__________________________________ than fifty-five as suggested,
“Hello Susan.”

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“I don’t want to talk to you.” “So?”
“Yeah, you don’t but you keep holding “Your parents took the two children
the telephone handset.” ______ with them.”
“This is just mere courtesy.” “Did you want a house maid to look after
a three and five year old so that you would
“My name is Clive. It’s been a while since bed her?”
I last talked to you. I could offer you dinner but
as it is, let that pass.” “They now come around to say they
want to be paid for what happened.”
“I know the man who has given me
headaches with his penchant for other ladies. “You didn’t even finish paying the bridal
Don’t you grow tired of f ----g?” price and here I am languishing in jail.”
“You can ask the ladies here if they grow “I am still at the flat in Old Mazowe
tired too. We can choose to be civilized.” Road,” he replied. “They wanted almost every
piece of furniture. Did you talk to them?”
“She is worse than Marian.”
“Clive, I am here and you are there. I
That was below the belt. Marian had don’t know what is happening out there.”
been a house maid with whom he had had a
fling until all hell broke loose. Her employer had ”I will come and see you again when I
fired her while Susan had put Marian’s head in find the time.”
a tub. Had it not been for the screaming of
some children maybe Susan would have been “Thank you for the visit. Let it be the last
on death row here. He wondered if Marian was time you visit me. There are some ghosts that
still in Umvovo, Chegutu or married to someone are best kept in sealed boxes.”
by now.
He drove out of Chikurubi Medium-
“Was this one worth my incarceration?” Maximum Prison complex after undergoing all
she asked. the necessary security checks and being
frisked. If they had tried searching his bodily
“Susan you did a crime don’t forget.” undercarriage they would have known what a
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man who had not had a woman for a week just as bad to ask the neighbours because no
was like. He had asked one bored jail guard one knew what their neighbour did.
what was expected of the visitors to bring for
their interned relatives. He returned after an hour and a half
having visited a nearby bottle store. It wasn’t
“It is the wish of the state to have all good to buy beer, drink it outside while having
prisoners resuscitated. Bring them literature, a 360º view of the drinking hole in case police
goodies and letters that we censor ______.” raided them as they usually did. Public drinking
was a nuisance at law. A drunk was no match
He made a telephone call from the for the recruit police constables who had just
office. passed their training. The fines weighed against
the cost of a pint of beer were very unfair. He
“Lydia?” had had his share of paying these fines. Worse
of all was the prospect of having a few beers
“What is it?”
then being marched in double file towards the
“Clive.” nearest police station holding their empty beer
bottles as exhibits.
“What is it?”
“Someone should take the police to
“Can I see you?” he asked. court for breaking our leisure time chasing us,”
once Clive has suggested that to his drinking
“Clive, wake up and move on. I don’t buddies.
like the taste of acid in my mouth ________,”
she had cut the line on him. “Good idea but it costs a lot to enrich
the lawyers.”
By around six thirty in the evening he had
had three pints of beer. He drove off towards “When they are off duty do the police
Old Mazowe Road. He was shifting his 5-speed drink?”
manual gearbox. He parked his Nissan Sunny
B11 1488 cm3, 8-valve petrol driven sedan and “Not in public. Any police man off duty
walked to the fourth floor. He knocked. He who is caught in a public drinking will be sent
knocked again. There was no response. It was to a disciplinary hearing.”

boomerang boomerang
“I guess they won’t give him more beer “Clive, I am busy,” she slammed the
there.” door.
After an hour or an hour and three He heard the laughter and stifled kisses
quarters Clive took his blue beloved Nissan within. The burglar screen right before his eyes
Sunny b11 towards a block of flats. He had prevented him from the stupidity of being
knocked. The door was yanked open. Lydia incarcerated within the confines of Harare
Shashe stood in the embrace of a short and Central Prison, Harare Remand Prison or
slender young man. She had opened the door Chikurubi Maximum Prison. He moved to the
while standing hard against the wall squashing kitchen window which was open.
her buttocks in the process. One of her legs
was against the wall with a lot of free leg room Lydia and the young man were moving
on view. The young man had one hand on her down the passage with her dress now to her
chest cavity the other on the freely available bosom line while a set of trousers were on the
flesh hanging around like a butchery dressing. floor. Clive hoped the young man
remembered what safe sex was. Had he, Clive
“Is he your brother?” the young man had remembered?
asked retreating.
He headed home to a flat too lonely for
“No Jehovah’s Witness Jethro. Don’t a single man.
worry about them.” She had replied.
____________________________________
The length of her dress came between
her buttocks and knees. The dress was hooked
to her neck by two sleeves. It looked like it was
so strung around her she needed to get into a They released her earlier than was
ladder to get inside. For a moment the younger planned. Good behaviour in prison was a
man had released his hold on her behind. contributing factor to early release. He
sentence was not for a serious crime. It was
”Yes?” she asked. “What is it?” classified as gross bodily harm. She gathered
her civilian attire on her way out raising her
“Can we talk?” hands to those of her class that she had been
with. She had her loose change.
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Clive was sitting on the hood of his Nissan women including maids, barmaids, shop
Sunny b11 series outside the prison fence and assistants and the like.”
gate post.
“In most of the cases you have been so
“You look familiar,” he said. jealousy you failed to notice the difference
between flirting and extra marital affairs. There
“I didn’t expect you here.” are women out there who sieve men. They just
don’t rush into relationships. They take time to
“Did you plan on going somewhere?” study and reject men including me.”
“I was thinking of Dzivaresekwa,” she had “You caused my incarceration.”
replied.
“Did I buy the acid?”
“The last time you lived there was more
than five years ago,” he had said. “I did it to protect myself.”
“I had my son at the local clinic about “Susan you should have poured acid on
four years and nine months ago. I remember me not her or her likes. If I am the hunter,
that now.” damage me to prevent me hunting. You don’t
beat a buffalo to stop a lion from hunting it.
“I can drop you there if you insist,” he You injure the leader of the lion pack.”
had replied.
He drove out of the security complex
“The kombis are going to the city. They heading into the city. Most of the traffic he saw
cost less than a litre of fuel. You have caused in Arcturus Road was heading in the opposite
me enough problems as it were Clive.” directions. Most of the traffic was
circumnavigating Mutare Road on the way to
“Free lift,” he opened the door for her. “If
Mabvuku and Tafara by using a longer route. It
you learn to blame others for everything you
was pleasant to be driving freewill while those
won’t make it in life.”
in the opposite direction were bumper to
“Clive, when I met you I was just bumper.
seventeen but ever since you have been
eyeing and taking to bed other countless
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He drove into one of the many tree lined body cross wise holding onto her shoulders. Her
avenues within the Avenues area and knees were bent.
stopped. He took her out to a restaurant which
he knew that had a popular bar nearby “Tired?”
divided by a brick wall. He picked his meal for
the evening. For someone who worked in oily, “I was praying.”
hot and sweaty conditions, he choose their
“I also pray that the hot temper of yours
local staple food, thick porridge created using
will be warm now.”
maize flour and beef bones with green
vegetables. She chose an entirely different “Clive, I am still a young woman under
package. She selected piri-piri chicken and twenty-seven years of age. If any other woman
chips. went through what I went through especially
with your hookers, she would go crazy. I don’t
“Is that delicious?” he asked towards the
like to visit the doctor yet again because you
end of the meal.
had unprotected sex with a street girl. Next
“I didn’t know that I had ordered for one time it will be HIV AIDS.”
and a half people,” she had replied taking a
“Susan, you are twenty-five years old. I
glass of water. Her mouth was aflame.
am still three years your senior.”
“You mean you are pregnant?” he
“Take me to Dzivaresekwa until you
asked.
negotiate with my parents,” she had replied.
“Clive!” she rebuked before falling into He drove to the flat.
laughter at his joke. When she finished laughing
“This is not Dzivaresekwa,” she said. He
half of her left-over chicken was on his plate.
had parked.
“This piri-piri is good for drunkards,” he
“You can wait while I run a bath and
had said tastefully.
shave,” he had exited the vehicle.
He finished with a pint of beer while she
She followed in the evening light a few
took a mineral drink. He found her in the
metres behind him to the third floor of the
vehicle dozing. She had her arms around her
block. He opened the burglar screens while she
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followed. The flat was still the same except it “Clive _______.”
needed several hours of cleaning. It smelt of
beer, sweat, mildew and dust. It didn’t smell of “Sorry,”
women’s perfume though.
She sank under the tub leaving a few
“This is home.” bubbles. He entered from the other end. Her
head bobbed out. She was breathing harshly.
“I thought when I attacked the prostitute
our marriage was over,” she said. He ushered “Sue _____.”
her into the place she had last seen months
ago. “What?”
“She wasn’t a prostitute. A girlfriend is not “For a start can we start all over, no
worth breaking a marriage for,” he replied. bickering?”
“I don’t want to talk about her or to “Remain on that side and I will remain
argue,” she removed her shoes tiptoeing into here.”
the bathroom. He didn’t hear the lock centre
“What was jail like?’
into its home. “Are the kids still at my
mother’s?” “You wouldn’t want to know.”
“Yeah two of them are still there. What “I heard the prisoners fight over other
did you do back there for entertainment?” prisoners to make wives or husbands of them.”
He locked the outside screen and the “I guess that is where same sex stuff
door. He came back to put his stereo system to started,” she replied.
his favourite reggae music. She was singing
when he opened the bathroom door having a “It started in Sodom and Gomorrah.”
tub full of water.
“At least you know. How did you escape
“Hey, what’s the big deal?” the brimstone there?” she asked.
“What?” “I reserved it for you.”

boomerang boomerang
“Let me enjoy my freedom Clive. We She wrapped her hands around him and
took some things for granted.” forgot what had happened to separate them.
She later pulled out the plug and rose “Clive?”

majestically opening up a hiss of cold water.
The cold water washed away the soap and “Hmm?”
their tiredness. He remained sitting while she
came and sat on his lap. “Are you on steroids?”
“Was there anything else you wanted to “No, natural.”

say?”
“Clive, if you were not into philandering
“Do the prison guards take female you make a good husband.”
prisoners to bed?”
“I promise no extra marital affairs or
“The male ones?” casual sex outside the home if you promise to
curb your temper and jealousy. Whatever
“Yes.” those women did with you in jail you were
under duress. Here I am the man and I do
“No, they would end up being things that please us both. You are the wife,
sodomised,” she replied. “Neither do the you do your best,” he replied.
female guards molest the female prisoners
sexually. It is the prisoners themselves who “Promise?”
abuse each other.”
“Yeah,” he replied carrying her to the
“Did you abuse anyone?” he asked. lounge wrapped in an evening gown.
“If I did, I am not telling. The others “Clive? You once called me a witch?”
seemed desperate too. I don’t know if it were
the long sentences or the criminal record that “You called the male variety, a wizard.”
made them difficult. I am glad I am home. I am
“If I were a witch I would cast the
happy you appreciate me as you wife,” she
museum policy spell in marriages on you.”
replied.

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“Which is?” wrestling not wildlife may have been done. I

intend leading you out from early in the
“You visit a museum to see the artefacts morning,” the youth organising secretary had
on display. You don’t touch. You don’t own. said to abut twenty something youths that
You don’t personalize. The same with other were around him. “How many of you have
women and girls out there especially the been to Domboshawa before?”
Avenues hookers. Just look, don’t ogle. Don’t
touch or fondle. Don’t take them to their bitchy Some hands went up.
homes because you have me. Here you have
no competition except if the children are wide “Hey, put down those hands, we are
awake. There, you may entertain where John going to Domboshawa. Six o’clock sharp you
had just left. The diseases associated with that should be here,” he had replied. “If you see the
are horrendous.” sun getting out of its sheath before you are
within the church buildings, you are sunk.”
She missed out on college the next year
because the growing protrusion on her belly “Will we be fasting?”
did not allow her much to study. It made her
parents and her own children call her Humpty “No, we will be ferrying foodstuffs.”
Dumpty.
They hired a Toyota Coaster to ferry all
____________________________________ the youths from their Glen View suburb church
circuit. They went past Mataure Shopping
Centre moving into 8th Street heading east
towards Glen View Way. Glen View Way
“The church is organising a single day opened the way into Willowvale that soon had
excursion for the youths. We are quartered them turning left heading west towards Budiriro
either in college studying or at work stressing along High Glen Road.
up. Now it will be an open Saturday. It is an
easy day with minimum fees and fuss to join. They turned into Bulawayo Road
We will be out early before sunrise. We will see heading up until they found Domboshawa
the sun setting as we leave. We will arrive here Road. They sang hymns or occasionally
while the night is still young. The Young & chatted. Ndanatsiwa looked outside the
Restless, Santa Barbara, Generations, WWF for window once in a while. This was the privilege
boomerang boomerang
of not driving. You could look at the terrain, stooping forward. They walked further up
residences, imposing gates and roadside infra increasing in elevation.
structure. . The vehicle brought them into
Domboshawa. They went further into the “You are not from my group,” he said.
interior of the sleepy village, they turned right
past a boom gate with a bored official who “No,” she had replied. “You are lost.”
counted them, checked his pad and wrote a
“I can find them.”
receipt.
Her youthful group had almost run up the
There were three other churches that
inclines. At that age they didn’t feel the heat in
had come with the same idea of taking their
their knees. She had decided to follow at her
youths/members for fellowship into the hills to
own pace. She knew where she was going.
commensurate with the Creator. Ndanatsiwa
She knew why she was here. It was difficult to
was the last behind her group. They climbed
be amongst youths aged seventeen and
up. She had taken off her jacket. Her body was
above most of who were below her age. They
emitting enough heat to counter the cold
had an excitement and knowledge which she
spells brought in by the wind.
didn’t relate to.
She followed picking her way up
“My name is Clifton,” he had said.
carefully. An elephant when forced up these
hills picked the easiest route. Someone who While she perspired, he was taking it
observed elephants had built the Mapinga to easy.
Lake Kariba road by choosing the way
elephants travelled in between the two points. “I am called Ndanatsiwa,” she had
replied.
“Hi,” someone was at her elbows. She
hadn’t noticed them coming close to her. “Where is your group from?” he had
asked.
“Hello,” she had responded.
“Glen View,” she had replied.
The gentleman was tall, broad, and light
in complexion with a lopsided smile. He was

boomerang boomerang
“We are from Ruwa, Windsor Park to be to them. It appeared like a worm moving with
exact,” he had replied. “We are from a large the top up and the middle touching the base,
branch of the church.” the head up in the air. They went around this
structure before resuming.
“Are you a pastor?”
The next structure was a set of rocks
“No I am just a peer youth advisor.” which looked like a gecko‘s head. The colours
changed with the day in hues of red, orange
They reached a depression from which and brown reflecting the heat to the ground.
water was flowing from a little higher up from a Further on there were more small streams of
crack or series of cracks within the rocks. Clifton water coming from rocks collecting on its way
had a digital camera. She had never thought down. Further up rocks on top of their bases
of photographs. He used it. He showed her how looked like sentries. She didn’t notice she was
to operate the piece. They washed their faces, going further up without sweating or breathing
hands and sweat from their necks from the a lot because she was arguing with Clifton one
stream flowing by before resuming. They found point to another.
a spot to rest exchanging notes. After ten
minutes she could feel the cold brought by the They reached a depression with sudden
wind. cliff that fell a few metres into a tree lined
alleyway as if it was a horse shoe or it had
“We should be on the move,” she been stamped by a giant in a neatly rounded
offered. shoe. On the way up towards a beacon that
marked the highest point in the region they
“I was more concerned about you than
saw a rock which looked like a cartoon dog
me.”
with his fore and hind legs stuck in the mud with
He offered her his hand. They went up just parts jutting out in three places. It rose
further viewing balancing rocks. There was majestically on what would have been the
what appeared like a base upon which was a cartoon dog rising up above the ground. The
rock sitting on top. The volume of the base and headed up towards the trigonometrical
the top when they met was less than two beacon.
square metres. They wondered why this rock on
‘”Thanks Clifton for chatting me up,” she
top did not tilt since it edged out precariously
had said. “I have to join my group.”
boomerang boomerang
“It’s my pleasure ma’am,” he had

replied.
She was back from the Administrative
“Let me join the younger staff.” Court when she passed through their
reception. The receptionist was tall and slim
“Are you in the books?” he had asked. always with a smile. In her youthful days she
must have been good at picking fruit from
She gave him her work number before trees while her peers looked for chairs. It looked
joining the younger beings. They separated at like wherever she was sitting down she had
the top while she joined her youths in praise, earphones routing calls from one office to
worship, the word and other issues they had to another or attending to queries.
contend with. They went down the hill after
having their packed lunches. At least she was “Ndanatsiwa,” the receptionist called.
thankful the youths with their speed at the
ascent or descent carried everything they had “That’s me,” she had replied.
brought including food and litter.
The reception offered a paper written
Whatever parts of Domboshawa rural ‘While You Were Away’ at the top.
they passed through on their way back, they
hardly saw because the sun was down. They “Thanks a lot Roxanne,” Ndanatsiwa had
could see lights here and there or the odd fire headed for her modular office. She read the
in the open. No one could tell the area had paper.
beautiful granite rocky outcrops which drew
tourists in. No one would suppose that there Clifton Muparadzi telephoned at 1046hrs,
rocky hills had a way of holding rain water that 1053hrs and 1139hrs. He left this number.’ She
allowed the area to be Harare’s market asked for a line.
gardening basket.
“Clifton here,” he had said.
No one knew there was a damsel looking
“Hi, it’s Ndanatsiwa,” she had replied.
forward to a date very soon.
“Sorry, I heard you were out,” he had
____________________________________
replied.

boomerang boomerang
“Yes,” she said. “Excuse me, can I help?” a man pushing

a trolley with cutlery that had been used for
“You do have a DVD player at home tea asked.
don’t you?” he asked.
“I am looking for Clifton,” she had
“Yes why?” she asked. replied.
“Don’t worry. Are you free after work?” “Turn right, second door on your left,” the
he had asked. man had said.
“Where are you?” she had asked. “Thank you sir,” she had replied.
“I am in Newlands. I will leave the office She checked the door. There was a small
around 1635 – 1645hrs,” he had responded. plaque on an opaque class that read ‘Clifton
Muparadzi – Actuarial Assistant’. She knocked.
“There is someone I wanted to pick in There was a response. She went in.
Glenara Road,” she had replied. “Can I pass
through your office 1600hrs?” Clifton was well dressed in a buff business
suit, white long sleeved shirt and brown striped
“Fine,” he had given directions and the tie. He rose briefly to shake her hand. He
name Minet Insurance Company. She met and showed her to a set of three armchairs. She
did business at a client’s home for less than selected one. He sat almost at right angles to
forty minutes before she drove down Enterprise her pushing one foot over the other showing
Road turning into the Newlands Shopping black shoes with heels. Her eyes ran over the
Centre where she asked for directions. She neat, orderly and appointed office. There were
parked her vehicle and entered the offices of no family portraits, just three of him in various
Minet Insurance Company. instances.
The receptionist telephoned. She gave Thirty minutes later he saw her to her
directions. She walked down a corridor vehicle.
checking the door numbers.
____________________________________

boomerang boomerang
gumi nerimwe
(11)

boomerang boomerang
__________________________________
“Your door was written Actuarial Assistant

of some sort,” she had said.
“They told me not to allow spies in the

office.”
“Clifton!”
“I am just a senior office orderly making

tea and sharing biscuits.”
“I don’t know much about that

qualification but I suppose it needs a lot of
calculating stamina for a school leaving
student. The guys I went with to high school
who wanted to be that post or better than
what’s on your door believed in Pure and
Applied Mathematics as different subjects.”
“No, it’s not that top heavy in

Mathematics though Mathematics is a
requirement. It is just a course like engineering
that requires a student to concentrate and be
innovative. All these vocations are there to test
a student so that they can be innovative. They
bring out fresh ideas from the discerning
students. Marketing is even tougher than
Actuarial sciences yet you don’t need that
breed of Mathematics.

boomerang boomerang
“The marketing guys bring the bacon had replied. “It is worst of all in working in
that we feast on. I did a Bachelor of Gokwe. I wouldn’t like to work in a very small
Commerce (Actuarial Science) degree at the town though there are advantages like
National University of Science and Technology residential stands are larger, cheaper and the
(NUST) in Bulawayo. Hey imagine the first time a area is more hygienic.”
guy gets to live away from his parents who
were in Mateta II in Gokwe rural. That was “We have a lot of pressure here too.
some time ago before I joined Progressive Small cities have a laid back life unlike here
Insurance Brokers in Gweru for a short time,” he where we are trying to do three jobs at the
had replied. same time to survive. We try to copy and paste
the lifestyles of others. Life is different. Some of
“You lived in Gweru?” she accused. us grow up, go to school thence to college
and work. We then have to support parents
“For almost a year and a half I worked in and fifteen siblings. The others work. Their
that city from an office block where I could parents buy them residential stands to wean
watch OK Bazaars supermarket. I was in the them off the family residences. We then play
third floor of a building that looked across at catch up.”
Fourth Street corner Livingstone Avenue. It was
a great time. Most of my former college mates “A sibling is a blood brother or sister. I
were scattered in Zvishavane, Mashava, have never heard of a woman lately having
Masvingo and of course in Bulawayo. Now it’s fifteen children.”
different we are stretching away from each
other. Gweru was good because on a Friday I “In rural Gokwe it happens. You see
could drive to my rural home through Nkayi. women who get pregnant almost once every
The bone shaking body tempering roads made year and three months starting at around
sure I couldn’t sleep. That required a sturdy eighteen. You find by fluke such a person
vehicle like a pick up. Now driving home is continues giving birth to the age of forty-four
expensive in terms of the distance, the time, by which time she is a grandmother of three to
the fuel and the logistics.” four.”
”Harare as a large city has many “You are creaming up stories. Such births
attractions, which you can’t find in the smaller could lead to complications.”
cities like Gweru, KweKwe and Kadoma.” She
boomerang boomerang
“Okay obviously not fifteen in this “Sounds like a challenging job,” she
decade but maybe you look after five siblings. replied.
Rural people have a way of marrying early like
a man married before he turns twenty-two. By “On the way down from Domboshawa
that age I was teaching Mathematics at a with my church youths and others I kept
school not far from our rural homestead while looking for you. I thought you had been left
buying newspapers weekly scanning for job behind by your youthful group,” he said.
openings. My parents are rural cotton growers “Maybe you wanted an all-night session
yet they sent all of us to boarding schools when worshipping in the hills.”
we reached high school age. I never went
under the burden to look after siblings.” “No, the way down was faster because I
didn’t want the sun to set before we had
They were in King George Road at the cleared the boom gate,” she had replied. “The
George Hotel in Avondale sitting on chairs with national park rangers there told us there were
their table looking at the traffic both passenger many black mambas and/or African cobras
and vehicular. It was night time now. The street inhibiting crevices which they left when the sun
lights were on. The traffic lights were more was setting because the heat would have
visible from far away. The neon lights were alive receded.
now advertising services for their intended
market. “They said the area had a lot of rats or
rodents including rock rabbits which made the
“What if I may sound vain are actuarial snake’s main diet. The rangers did well except
sciences?” she asked. they didn’t know they had placed ice in our
youthful minds. I thought of a snake that can
“It’s an element of industry that does risk move at 11-kilometres an hour when rushing
management. We play a leading role in swishing its tail and side winding towards me.
creating a stable investment portfolio for That made me increase pace. I saw the
business by helping them manage risk. You find urgency to be inside the bus as soon as was
insurance companies, banks and the leading convenient.”
industries will not risk without planning which is
where we come in.” “The black mamba is a tree dweller as
well. The time when we went to Domboshawa
is spring. Had you been strong minded enough
boomerang boomerang
to live in their terrain for a night you would have “I hate competition,“ he replied. “I am
heard their hisses as they mate. They gestate not promising to be a prince in shining armour.”
after 90-days, much better than you females,”
he said that with a crooked smile. “After the “I am not dating. I wasn’t searching
eggs hatch the young are on their own. They either,” she had replied. “How old are you?”
make up a good feast for the birds and bigger
lizards while clearing the area of any small “Twenty-seven.”
pests.”
“I am twenty-eight,” she had replied.
“9-months are all right to me,” she had
“Good, you were saying ______.”
replied. “The snakes only mate once a year at
a particular time. Now as for us humans it is “I was afraid of the black mambas. The
365/6 days a year to produce fifteen children tour guide also said Domboshava mountain
who will look after each other late in life.” ranges are holy to the African traditionalists
who believe in ancestral spirits. He showed us a
“Children?” he asked.
rocky outcrop called Ngomakurira which got
“None,” she had replied. They ate their the name because at night they hear mystical
meal. There was the sound of fork, spoon or spirits playing the drums.”
knife on porcelain or the softy sound of a glass
“They believe what I heard,” he replied.
on a table cloth. “And you?”
“However on black mambas you have a right
“I am still searching.” to be afraid. The venom can kill a grown up in
three quarts of an hour.”
“How old are you?” she asked with a
smile to charm the daylights out of him. “That and Ngomakurira made me
descend at speed.”
“Can I date you regularly, just in case
you had other ideas?” he asked. “The snake though avoids humans. When
threatened it can coil and lift its body up to
“Like what?” she asked. about forty percent. Being about 2 to 4-m tall it
means it can strike at speed from a distance.”

boomerang boomerang
“That means it has no natural She looked at him who was wearing jean
predators?” trousers, cape on his head, sneakers and a
colour coded t-shirt which was exclusive to
“That’s the opposite. Mongoose and some good clothing boutiques in the city.
snake eagles mainly feed on snakes including
the black mamba. “ “I grew up herding goats,” he had
replied.”I was fully rural weeding cotton plants,
“Why didn’t you become a nature maize shoots, sunflowers and hunting bees for
guide?” she asked. honey at night. “
“I know about black mambas because “Tell me about your family?” she asked.
our rural area had rocky hills and kopjes. One
time we went running up a kopje after some They rose from their table walking down
mischief to hide from boys pursuing us. Right in King George Road into the periphery of
our path, between two rocks, in a darkened Avondale shopping centre which was neon
alley a puff udder uncoiled itself and hissed less sign posted in the evening. Traffic was a haze
than two metres from us. Both we and our mainly going away from Harare which was a
perceived enemies fled for home. The fact that kilometre or so away.
home was two kilometres away and the puff
adder was not chasing us was lost to reason. “There were six of us,” he replied. “My
family was rural though we had relatives in
“On another occasion we saw a rock Kadoma, KweKwe and Gweru which I used as
python that should have swallowed a rock staging posts for looking for jobs. It was these
rabbit. We had heard some black magic relatives who kept me informed on job
theories about these venomous snakes so we advertisements by putting them on the nearest
crept away, bare foot.” bus heading our way. I was the third in line to
the throne. All of us made it to college one
“You of all people going barefoot?” form or another.”
“I went barefoot wearing short trousers They talked for about an hour before
which had two maps at the back without a heading back. His arm was around her waist.
patch on them at times.”

boomerang boomerang
“Let’s hear more about you,” he had “You didn’t tell me did you?” he had
said. asked.
“I grew up in Mbare before the family That was the last time she visited his flat.
moved to Glen View 1. I attended Highfield He never called upon her again.
High School before moving to Girls High School
between the second and fourth form. We ____________________________________
shifted accommodation to Glen View when
Glen View was still a few new housing units. We
later changed to the Glen View 3 extension
Clifton drove from Beitbridge where he
stands which are larger than our old one near
had been to collect his latest vehicle. He had
Gutsai Spar.”
used his cell phone after clearing customs.
At the end of it, he picked her chin up
and kissed her before she took her vehicle. She “So where are you exactly?” she had
drove off first while he followed later going in asked.
different directions.
“I will be in Masvingo in about three to
She became a frequent visitor at his four hours,” he had replied. “I will be there
place at Charingira Court. One day she was in around three in the afternoon.”
his bedroom doing her hair. She just had a
white towel around her huge body. They had “I am leaving Chivhu in twenty minutes
been exercising before taking a bath together. for Masvingo,” she had replied. “I will be in
there in two hours at the most.”
“Ndanatsiwa,” he had said. They had
been talking. “Is it true that you aborted at the “Drive well,” he had replied shutting off
age of fourteen? They said it is the reason you communication.
changed schools?”
He drove out. Beitbridge was a bust
Cold water went through her feet. thoroughfare with buses and huge haulage
trucks snaking through the road which reduced
“Who told you that?” speed. He had to be patient enough in the
road conditions to overtake as impatience had
been the cause of many headstones in life.
boomerang boomerang
Before the city of Masvingo, he turned south “In South Africa one baboon sped off
east towards Morgenster. with the camera. He was taking selfies by the
time it was recovered.”
He phoned for directions.
The lounge was where he was. Straight
“The lodge is set against the backdrop of ahead was a kitchen with fitted cupboards, a
granite outcrops.” fridge, a four plate stove with oven and a
microwave oven. He negotiated his way.
“They are many granite outcrops,” he
had replied. “To your left,” she instructed.
“A male lion knows when a female is in He needed no persuasion.

heat by smelling the air,” she had replied. “It is
up to you. At the twenty-five kilometre peg “How long have you been here?” he
start looking.” asked.
The Lodge at the Ancient City was on a He kept his hand on the open bedroom
granite outcrop. He saw and identified it. It had door. There were two beds pressed together
been constructed in the same fashion as the set up in royal African colours.
Great Zimbabwe Monument. It looked across
at the expanse of the Msasa valley. He went “About an hour,” she sat up. “I am
through the necessary security checks. He furnished. I was waiting for you.”
parked his vehicle getting out taking his small
bag. He knocked at the door of the unit as he She was wearing a wrapper around her
had been told. body. The wrapper covered from the bosom to
the middle of her upper legs. The bosom
“Come in,” the lady said. “Do close the covered was only half. He wrapped his arm
door and lock it. There are adventurous around her sucking her tongue with his. He
monkeys and baboons that pick things.” pulled at the wrapper. She spun three hundred
and sixty degrees to reveal her nudity. After
“Baboons?” he asked locking the door. traditional rites had been observed they shared
“Why doesn’t one run away with your a shower.
handbag?”

boomerang boomerang
“How many days do we have here?” he “And the young male nurses dream of
asked. you,” he said washing her body with his eyes.
“My, has anyone told you that you are
“We only have two nights only extremely attractive?”
sweetheart before we run towards pour work
appointments. Tomorrow we tour the Great “You just did,” she preened herself like a
Zimbabwe monument. You will come home peahen.
with all your joints aching you won’t make
love.” They drove out into the night for supper,
pool games and beers before returning. In the
“Are you that sure?” old days people appeased their spirits the
whole night long in dances by firelight drinking
“Wait and see,” she had replied. beer following instructions to the letter. He
appeased his other side until in the morning.
“Otherwise how are you Juliet?”
They had the hill complex at the ancient
“I am fine and you?” she had replied city to contend with first. Juliet being slightly
settling in his arms. They washed up. shorter than him but stockier did sweat going
up. He could hear her huffing as she struggled
“How is Avenues Clinic doing?”
up the steep ascent. They reached the top
“The clinic is doing fine so is my were only the king, his advisers, bodyguards
department.” and spiritual leaders were allowed. On the
complex the chief looked at his harem down
“What more do you like being a nursing below deciding who would be his bed mate
sister or a lecturer?” he had asked. for the night.
“Both are just in the blood because with On the same complex was an ascent
nursing there is the practical more than the which was called bloody because that is
theory. The poor misty eyed girls and boys can where traitors and attackers were allowed to
watch you demonstrate on a real patience or use to their death from stones, arrows and
you can watch them under your supervision,” spears falling from above when it was such a
she had replied. tight squeeze one could hardly run without
breaking a led.
boomerang boomerang
He was ready with a bottle of water for “Yes the woman travails in labour yet
her. She emptied the 750-ml half into her she comes again and again to produce more
stomach the other half by pouring over her and more fruit.”
neck soaking her long flowing dress she had
on. After touring the village including the cone “Our generation we were six siblings.
shaped tower which was the most Now, none of my married siblings have more
photographed of all, they left. than three children.”
They had lunch at Great Zimbabwe “How many will you have?”
Hotel even though they had self catering
facilities. They were just bushed by the “How many will we have?” He
complex. corrected. “You tell me Juliet, how many of my
children will that round stomach hold and
“Have you ever gone up the hill before?” produce?”
he had asked.
“Not more than three,” she replied.
“I came here first when I was in third form
at Kambuzuma High School. I came again “Let’s retire to our rooms. Let’s see if we
when I was in second and third year at Harare can practice producing one baby.”
Hospital as a student nurse.”
The Heavens were opening for him. After
“I have been here before but each time lunch they visited the massive dam wall with its
it looks different,” Clifton replied. “I challenge steep cliff faces to the river snaking below.
you and me to go up the Nyanga Mountain. They toured it from end to end walking and
Let’s scale the highest point in Zimbabwe.” holding hands or posing. Their lodge awaited
them for the evening.
“I will think about it,” she had replied.
“Great Zimbabwe is so mystical one wants to On the morrow they cruised on the lake
return time and time again.” for four hours before coming back. He had
issues to settle after which they had a shower
“Like giving birth,” he replied with a before driving off for Harare. He kept over
twinkle. taking her on the way. He would be relaxed
then she would blow her horn going before

boomerang boomerang
him. While he headed for Charingira Court she potato production and poultry. He was into the
headed for a block of flats near Harare Sports haulage business too.
Centre.
“Does your wife tolerate this amount of
It was around seven thirty in the evening jealousy?” She asked.
when she opened the door getting in. Twenty
minutes later, there was a knock. Just in time. “I am a business guru. What if there is a
photographer lurking?” he had asked. That
“Hello,” she had replied when she had was partially true. “So this is what you hired to
yanked the door open. The burglar screen still charm me out of my comfort zone of
protected her from unwanted persons. Marondera?”
The man who stood there was about “Better than a hotel with staring eyes,”
forty years of age. The hair was beginning to she had replied.
thin at the top of the head going backwards.
He had a stomach that looked like a woman in He checked the furnishing of the flat
the third of her pregnancy. He had been which was up to modern standards since the
smoking. He killed his cigarette. flat was hired out to tourists or local visitors for
about four or more days stay. He felt the
“Spencer, you know I don’t like smoke,” cushions and smelt them.
she said.
He came looking around. His hands
The screen opened. He moved in without reached underneath her blouse. With one
saying a sound opening and shutting doors movement he had removed the brassiere
checking for occupants. She stood in the checking the size of her lactation organs. He
passage until he had satisfied himself that she looked at her squarely. She kept her gaze. He
was alone. This was the first time and first had given her some instructions. The rest, he
impressions were important. A lady in the had said was a surprise package he kept for
Avenues who paraded her wares at night had new comers. He next put his finger under the
said this one paid well if the woman was young sink washing his hands. He came towards her
and beautiful. She had overhead and followed opening her mouth. He put his fingers between
up on the name until she had found him. He the lower and upper jaw looking at her rows of
was in the construction, agro-industry including teeth.
boomerang boomerang
“Tongue out ______,”he instructed. “Are make matters worse the curtains were not
you wearing high heels?” drawn. He was shielding her but any peeping
tom could see what was happening. He pulled
“Yes,” she replied. her hard against his crotch.
“Remove them,” she kicked her shoes For a moment she thought she could not
off. He tipped her chin up with his two fingers breathe. She had not known about this
inside her mouth. “Suck you!” otherwise she would have foregone the
money. Whatever was left of the hefty
She sucked fingers. discharge went on her face swiftly. It was
quickly addressed. She rushed into the
“I did say you must be in a short dress,
bathroom to wash up while he followed
not too short or too long,” he groaned. “I want
leisurely.
to see those upper knees but not the start of
the sitting apparatus.” “I want you to suck until I am ready
again.”
“I am in a short one.”
She wasn’t coming out without having
“Aaaaah,” he groaned in delight. She
sucked him again.
was holding him where the fruit was produced
and stored. “Get on your knees woman!” Clifton telephoned on the third day. She
had been right to keep Clifton out. She was
She did on one knee. He traced his
recovering from the oral sexual abuse she had
hands on her thighs. He yanked his trousers
had to undergo almost four to five times a day.
down while she knelt putting her warm mouth
Whenever she saw a sink she wanted to vomit.
on his crotch.
That was where he would wash his genitals
“Get down on both knees.” before it started all over again. He never
penetrated, not even once.
Business was urgent and swift. He was
quick to address his heat cooling down inside “Honey.”
her mouth. Her eyes went wide open like a
“The man of the house is around.”
woman who had seen lightning at close range.
She had never imagined this sort of surprise. To
boomerang boomerang
“You didn’t tell me you were married encroachment had sent the wild animals into
_________.” pans and roasting fires.
“We divorced. Once in a while he She had enquired from him on driving
inspects his apartment. The father of Morgan directions before the week end was nigh. She
_______. I will call you ______________ later.” had been told to report to a former residence
and now an office in Eastlea where she had
“Don’t ever _____,” he replied. obtained a petrol driven 2.4-litre V-6 BMW 7-
series to take to her home before coming to
He shut off communication. At the other her meeting on the morrow. There was also
side Juliet looked at the windows and smiled. some pedicure, manicure and hair treatment
Who was Morgan? in preparation. Her wardrobe had been from
the best of the boutiques in Harare. There was
____________________________________
no cheating to say she had bought. The
monies were wired there directly. All she did
was buy.
Juliet was at a quaint hotel just past
Marondera with a spa and Jacuzzi all on the She had forgiven but not forgotten the
house over a period of two nights with her first impressions he had done upon her in
Marondera date. They had gone horse riding. Harare. She had sworn to herself that no man
She had been terrified of the neighing would ever degrade her to use oral sex again.
creatures. However when someone was Here he had rudely surprised her. He had made
paying the bill in top dollar mode, one had to her sweat for the money that he splashed
kiss a frog if it meant cash. She had gone around her and his dates when he was in the
wadding in a flowing river trying to catch fish. mood. She was ready. It looked like an easy
The thrill of catching had been great. task of just bringing a body he didn’t use
concentrating on her mouth and its stomach
She had never been taken fishing or for his release. She knew this was the lowest
hunting before. Now on the range on point for a woman to be dehumanised yet the
horseback they had made believe they were money was a breathing apparatus.
hunting the African fox down. There was no
wildlife because urban and rural farming She had come here against her better
judgement. He had given her three weeks to
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recover. How many women had sworn as birth “Pachanjika,” she said. “There are
pains ran through them that they would never several photographs of people in black and
allow a man to do that to them again? Then white.”
how many of them had entered motherhood
again against the same experience? The first ”Photos of what looks like traditional
time he had surprised her by feeling her dance?”
lactation organs. They had had a bath. She
had performed well for the money rubbing “Yes,” she had replied.
soaping, oiling, applying lotion to him. She was
“Are you seeing a tall one with a whisk in
expecting oral penetration. He had asked her
his hand who is wearing a king’s head gear of
to get on her knees. Then he had penetrated.
buffalo hide and in some photos he is jumping
She had least expected that.
over tall drums?” He had asked.
“That is the wrong hole. That is my sewer
“Yeah I do,” she had replied.
hole.”
“That one is my father. He is tall gangly
“Shut up,” he had replied. “Remain on
with a horseshoe goatee beard.”
your knees.”
“This is your father?”
Her backsides were burning. She felt as if
some of her sewer emitting tissue had come “I don’t have his name on me. My
out. He had touched nothing else besides her mother was around forty-three years of age
anal cavity. It had been from stroking to oral when there was Chibuku® dance festival that
then to her sitting apparatus. Did he do this to reached her rural area of Bora in Murewa. She
his wife? She was perusing through a laptop associated with him for about two weeks so I
while they were sharing some beer. She had am told. I am a result of that union,” he had
her legs up on a settee wearing a gown replied. “By then he was about thirty years of
covering most of her middle parts resting her age. It is the reverse with us. You are a spring
sitting apparatus after the fire and storm chicken. However you won’t get pregnant to
challenge was over. raise a son who doesn’t walk with his father.”

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“Oh?” she asked perusing the ____________________________________

photographs. Was that why he picked younger
women? Was that why he punished them? The
newspapers had said he had made it from
scratch. “So you were never close with your She was home some months later when
father? her mother was cleaning up some things.
“I never knew him. My mother had Periodically she had seen women taking up this
separated from her husband. I was confirmed spirit of moving everything furniture or fittings
as being the reason for the ultimate divorce. armed with a grass broom thoroughly getting
You know the African male when a woman has rid of all things clogging their households. This
a baby with another man,” he had said. “Even was one of the days when her mother had
if the man is living with another woman and decided to do just that. Juliet was rummaging
they have been on separation four years he still through old photographs when she stared at
wants a very holy ex-wife. Even when he is two that came up.
becoming a father out there he still wants his
“Mom?”
former wife to practice secondary virginity.”
“Yeah,” the mother had replied.
“So where is your mother and him? “
“Who is in these photographs?” she
“I am told he passed away at a later
asked.
stage. My mother left this world when I was still
selling tomatoes from a UD truck in Mbare,” he The mother reached her checking the
had replied. “I was just starting to create an black and white photographs.
empire to afford your likes.“
“Ah I got these when my mother mbuya
Had he practised with the women in Tanaka passed away. They had my name and
Mbare? were in a sealed envelope like safe keys to a
strong room deposited in a bank vault,” she
“Wow, I never knew you had such
had replied.
humble beginnings,” was all she had said.
He never dated her again.

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“Who is the man in the picture here behaving like they were on the set for Tom and
playing drums and there jumping over them?” Jerry.
she asked.
“Hello,” someone had answered the call.
“That is your grandfather. This is the man “Richmond is not around but you can leave a
who was my father. My mother kept it a secret message.”
until she died. The villagers have sharp tongues.
Those that remembered told me they “Where is he?”
suspected it was him. Europeans did cloud
seeding to bring rains to sun perched Africa. “He is out on business.”
This one did child seeding with different
“Whom am I speaking to?”
women. I think more of his children were
bastards than those who are known. If any of “Ashley.”
them take his seeding genes in these days of
HIV/AIDS. I wonder if they will get to retire.” “Okay, I will give you my number. I am a
reporter working on a story about a drummer
She poured over the photographs again. and dancer called Kangira. Could he phone
She turned them over. They were written left to me back?” she asked.
right, Mamhepo (the accused), Sheunopa
(unknown), Fiona (co-accused her “Could I have your name ma’am?”
grandmother) etc. She blew up the
photographs putting a framed one of her She had almost forgotten the issue when
grandmother playing her shakers with both Richmond telephoned about two weeks later.
hands while the drummer was Mamhepo.
Technology allowed the photo technician to “Since when did a holder of a Bachelor
hide the others nearby neatly. She hung the of Nursing Science honours degree on top of a
portrait in her bedroom. general State Registered Nurse qualification
become a reporter?” he had started.
Next she telephoned Richmond. Things
hadn’t worked out well with him. He had “Hi, Richmond,” she had replied. “I
slipped through her net like an eel electrifying thought you could call back early. Where the
the fisherman trying to catch it. He was heck had you been?”

boomerang boomerang
“I was out of the country. I heard you collected the single mothers, divorced and
called.” widowed with certain consequences.”
“Are you the first born?” “Why don’t we sit down over a meal and
talk about this?”
“No, the last of five,” he had replied.
“I am pressed for time. I will ask
“Okay, I wanted to find out more about Ndanatsiwa to make the necessary
Kangira the drummer,” she had replied. arrangements,” he had replied.
“He is called Mamhepo. He came from “I wanted it to be private,” she had

Goromonzi. He was a well known traditional replied. “I don’t want her to know why I am
dance practitioner who could jump over tall after this Mamhepo guy for the meanwhile.”
drums. He played at dancing like an old man
with a walking stick while blowing a whistle like “Name the date, time and place. I will
a former soccer referee gone senile. He could check my schedule. At times I am pressed up.
put his foot on top of the drum he was playing. At others I wonder how I will spend the day.”
He could get into a Bedford truck or a bus
while playing the drums and come out still She did. She dressed up in a white dress
playing. I never had the occasion of seeing him with pig tails at the bottom. From where the pig
perform though I have enough photographic tails started, it was about fifteen centimetres
and verbal evidence. He only visited about over her knees. The tails lefty flesh hanging here
twice when I was too young to know of the and there as she walked. It had a V-neck that
historic significance.” was way down to half her bosom. She put on a
colour silver pedant hanging down as if
“Who was he to you?” she had asked, pointing to her cleft.
“He was my grandfather’s younger She put on a black cloth with which she
brother. I am equally as good as one of his covered her neck, shoulders and bosom when
grandsons. He died when I was not yet in high she required decency. She arrived well in time.
school. They were siblings. They had different She was led to a table with three chairs.
diverse talents. Mamhepo had a reputation Richmond was on the terrace. He came when
with women. He was a Komatsu grader that the waiter told him to. He shepherded a
boomerang boomerang
seventeen to nineteen year old girl before him.

He pulled out a seat for the girl.
“Hi,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.

This is my eldest sister’s eldest daughter Ashley.
She dots on me and I on her. What will we
have?”
She gathered that not everyone was a

Komatsu grader.
____________________________________

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gumi
nemaviri (12)

boomerang boomerang
____________________________________ dressing were described he was tall, slightly

slender with no muscles to see. His chin was
enshrined with a forest of black hair which did
not go beyond the chin or on the sides either.
“Lady, can I dance with you?” He looked like a he-goat coming out of a
cave.
That was a question. One didn’t expect to
date on a wedding reception. She was not He wore off white set of trousers with
part of the bridal team either to be expected black cross belts over his shoulders. His short
to dance. When she wanted a date the most sleeve shirt was grey with checked lines. The
she wasn’t keen to take to the dance floor. socks left part of his skin out. He seemed to
have outgrown his set of trousers. The shoes
“Why should I?” she fired back. “Do I
were soft heeled. They were a perfect fit. He
have to?”
seemed to fall within the nineteen to twenty-
“It’s a wedding. People are dancing.” three year age group.
“I am not the bride or the maid of “I don’t dance with small boys.”
honour. I am not the only lady around go find
“Lady I have been divorced twice!”
another dance partner.”
“Try a third time.”
“Neither am I the groom or the best
man,” he had replied in kind. She wished she She had responded after giving him one
hadn’t said that. “You are cheeky!” look. Where had he seen her dancing? She
had been too busy to be a bridesmaid besides
“Go find a dog, its less cheeky.”
her baulk didn’t fit. All the bridesmaids here
“I insist. Will you grace the honour of the were medium to tall in height and slender to
next dance with me?” match the bride. She would have appeared
like the bride’s mother. She did exercise a lot
The question and statements came from but maybe nature wanted her to maintain her
a lanky lad who looked like his knees had natural weight to which she always returned.
buckled under pressure when he had been
formed in his mother’s womb. If looks and “The dance floor is that way my lady.”
boomerang boomerang
“I just said something didn’t I?” She was minutes moving along the floor to applause
asking. reserved for dancers only. She retired
afterwards. She stood by a wall watching other
“Ndanatsiwa, let’s see you dance people doing single dances when she saw
again,” someone shouted. “What a great Philip with his tall frame coming back. He was
event to celebrate your co-worker’s wedding. stealing the show dancing with an elderly
You are a good dancer. I saw you on one woman almost one and a half times his age.
wedding video dancing backwards to collect
your partner. You people should celebrate Those legs were working magic. Philip
whatever talent God bestows you with danced flapping his hands and coming down
including dancing. Move that body!” or rising up as his legs carried him. He had a
habit of using his long legs more in his dances
“Maybe you should have tried playing it than other parts of his body. He swayed and
forwards,” someone had suggested. kicked. He danced like someone doing
kickboxing.
“Ndanatsiwa is normally a Manyika
name or Ndau down to the south of the At times he swayed his body to the right
Manyika stronghold,” the youth had advised. while his hands were on the left playing
imaginary drums. Then at times he was kicking
“Stick to miss for you,” Ndanatsiwa had his legs while his hands were on his behind. The
replied. “I didn’t ask about the meaning of my man had the whole floor section with his
name in Manyika or Ndau dialects neither am I dances. She attended to a few friends going
a Manyika.” out of the hall.
“I am called Philip,” he had replied. “I “Ndanatsiwa,” someone called.
am not a shareholder in Philips Consumer
Electronics or the defence industries variant “You are not yet going, are you?” That
though I would have liked to be.” was from Philip. To her it was very annoying.
“Whatever, “she had replied. “I am going to the toilet,” she had two
ladies snivelling.
They had a dance. Philip was quite a
good dancer. They danced for four or so

boomerang boomerang
“The gents are where you are going and “My pastor said there would be harsh
the ladies are that side,” he had pointed words towards lent,” he had whispered. “He
backwards with his thumb. said I may have tests and tribulations.”
“Is it?” she had asked going past him “What?”

back into the hall. “Maybe I am a she-male.”
“Someone cast a lot that the two of us
An hour later she was sitting after ice should dance again,” Philip had risen.
cream. Philip came and sat next to her.
The speakers were repeating their names
“You dance well Ndanatsiwa,” he had over and over saying someone had bet they
said. could dance better than real couples. She was
stuck for three to four minutes with Philip. He
“So do you.” was a good and courageous dancer.
“Do you happen to live in the western She sought her friend Lydia. “You have
suburbs?” he asked. been scarce.”
“Dzivaresekwa?” “Ndanatsiwa I saw you dancing with that

young man. He dances very well.”
“Mount Pleasant, the Grange, Bluff Hill,
Greencroft, Mabelreign, Marlborough, Sentosa “And where were you?”
or the Chisipite line?”
“Girl,” her friend had replied. When she
“No,” she had replied. rolled her eyes and excitement showed in
them, it meant she had been lining up possible
“Flat in the city?” he asked. dates. Her eyes were spinning. The eyelashes
were moving up and down. These had been
“Boy, I am not available whatever you
trimmed and taken care of. She was very
are looking for added to which you are half my
excited. “A party is where you move around
age. Scram,” she had replied.
getting noticed. Who knows you may be the
next one to host a wedding.”

boomerang boomerang
“Can we go before you start hosting your “Never mind,” she had replied. It wasn’t
own wedding?” She had asked. “You are in time to explain about the British comedy.
dreamland already seeing your knight in
shining armour.” “Wonderful couple don’t you think?” he
had asked.
“I will get hold of you. There is someone I
have to see off before I run away from them,” “I suppose so.”
Lydia had replied. She had disappeared.
“They said she is a legal assistant of some
For a big woman like herself, Lydia had sort,” he had replied.
moved as if on tiptoe. There was a comforting
spirit when the grounds were green with a lush “Yeah, yeah.”
lawn. However for ladies’ high heels, the tips
“And you are a workmate?”
sunk to the stock. Lydia had not been
bothered by the heels sinking in. She had set “I suppose so.”
her mind elsewhere. Ndanatsiwa saw her friend
on the phone heading for their vehicle. She “What is the difference between a
stood there before a tall framed man with long lawyer, a solicitor and a barrister?” he had
limbs came to stand next to her chatting. asked.
“Can I get you a drink?” Philip had asked “They are all lawyers.”
on her side.
“What’s the main difference?”He had
Where had he come from? Was this asked.
wedding venue haunted with spiritual beings
that walked in the flesh? “A lawyer is a general term for a person
who gives legal device and who conducts
“Some mothers do have them,” she had cases in a court of law. We normally treat a
replied. lawyer as the same as a general medical
practitioner. A legal assistant like the bride is a
“What?” person working her way up with a law degree
to the position of representing matters in court.
It takes a lot of research to come to court and
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argue before a judge, jury, panel of judges or a provincial magistrate or chief magistrate
magistrate. They are all learned and vested in instead of an ordinary magistrate.“
law so legal assistants like her are needed as
new blood.” “Now define what a solicitor is?”
Where had the words come from? She She sighed.

wasn’t given to being very vocal. It was quite a
wonderful wedding for her co-worker much “A solicitor normally provides legal
junior to her who had come on board less than advice and drafts contracts/agreements. They
a year ago. She had known the couple well. interact with their clients making legal decisions
He used to pick her after work. on their behalf. A solicitor at times is the
backbone of the barrister,” she had replied. “I
“Oh really?” he had asked. “And what is need visit the ladies.”
a barrister in legal terms?”
“Okay,” he had replied. “Don’t be long I
“Normally a barrister speaks in court have questions.”
before a judge or panel of jury. Normally these
are well versed in court etiquette and legal “You don’t tell what time to take,” she
practice over and above the relevant law had snapped at him.
degree and registration with the legal
When she was gone two young men
profession. In practice barristers had better
came to him. “Are you winning the dare and
right of audience to the higher courts than a
the bet?”
solicitor. Barristers don’t normally deal direct
with clients. They work under instruction from “I am not sure but she does appear to
solicitors including the fact that clients pay be hard to crack,” he had replied. “Tonight we
solicitors who get invoiced by barristers. This seem to have chosen the bitter ones. Did you
became a norm as a legal qualification did not two win?”
entitle a person to know court procedures
hence the experienced lawyers took these “Both we tried were offended.”
matters to court while the inexperienced learnt
on their way up. It’s like why are some criminal “Keep trying if you want your free beer,”
cases handled by a senior magistrate, one of them had said.

boomerang boomerang
“I will see Oswald,” Philip had replied. “Ndanatsiwa he is young, cute and
palatable,” Lydia had said.
“She looks familiar,” Oswald had said.”I
think she came to the law practice when I was “Lydia!”
doing research. Sorry you picked a very big
momma.” Lydia stopped the vehicle.
“She is a lawyer definitely we had not “Drive!” Ndanatsiwa had suggested.

counted on that. I could tell by the legal
advice she gave,” Philip had replied. “That will “No, I may have gotten hold of a date so
help when we go back to the fourth and I have to be kind,” she had opened the rear
penultimate law degree course at Mount door of the VW Gold Citi into which the three
Pleasant.” young men fitted in.
At last Ndanatsiwa had left the wedding “Hi, we meet again,” Lydia had started
reception with her friend Lydia who was conversation.
driving. They were chatting. Lydia negotiated
“I saw you both at the wedding,” Oswald
through the tight streets heading for
had remembered.
Lomagundi Drive which was a major artery that
took traffic away faster to or from the city. The ladies had surprised the three men
Ndanatsiwa was dancing in her seat with Lydia with their extensive knowledge of European
singing on cue. Westlife came with Bop-Bop soccer including the UEFA championships
Baby. Lydia turned into a road feeding into taking place. Lydia drove to the city. The other
Lomagundi Drive. There walking towards the two dropped off in Fife Avenue.
road was Philip and two young men.
“Where do you drop off Philip?”Lydia
“That’s the young man who was all over had asked. They cruised into town.
me,” Ndanatsiwa had said. The vehicle lights
bobbed up and down showing pedestrians on “Park Street will do. I will get own
the far left of the road walking on the grass transport to a friend’s den.”
verges.
“Okay,” said Lydia.

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“Ndanatsiwa, can I have your call She turned right before coming out hugging
card?” asked Philip. the eastern corner of Eaglesvale private
School.
“I didn’t carry one,” she had replied.
She turned to her left, towards the north
“I saw you give one to a lady called on Glenagleas Road into Dagenham Road
Theresa. She and I share the same maternal which led her to turn to her right heading South
grandmother,” he had replied. along Willowvale Road where she picked up a
larger volume of traffic. Further on she turned
“She will give you my number then,” left heading east along High Glen Road until
Ndanatsiwa had replied. she turned right heading south along Gumbe
Road towards her parental residence.
“Ndanatsiwa don’t be rude,” Lydia had
inferred. “Someone was calling on the landline,”
her mother had said when she had come into
By the time he dropped out, Phillip had a
the extensively well built residence.
call card with him. Lydia drove Ndanatsiwa
through her parental residence in Westwood “Oh?”
via Fourth Avenue.
“Someone called Philip. He said you
“Don’t stop on the way honey,” Lydia should call back. I wrote the number on a
had said. Ndanatsiwa had started reversing. piece of paper near the Harare directory,” she
had said.
“I know the drill,” Ndanatsiwa had
replied. “Thank you mother,” she had gone to
her bedroom. “Good night. How is daddy?”
She hugged Fourth Avenue back to
Kambuzuma Road. She headed south down “He is worried now that Newcastle is
the road until after the railway junction. She down to ten men 2-1 down too with thirteen
turned east onto Aspindale Road increasing minutes to go.”
speed as this was a sparsely used road at this
time. No sane driver stopped to check what “I am too tired to watch with him. Let me
flying objects had hit their vehicles at this hour. sleep.”

boomerang boomerang
Ndanatsiwa opened the door to her “I am Philip. You gave us a lift. There was
ensuite bedroom which had walk in facilities for I and my two buddies,” he had replied. “Are
her wardrobe. She had been the first one into you related to Ndanatsiwa?”
the family when her mother had married again.
She was almost the last one out now. With This lady had his breath catching. Did all
Lydia they had been friends since high school. the young men dating friends feel like this? Did
They shared a lot in common. they feel at some point they had made a
mistake in dating the other one? He wondered
For starters both were not yet married. who was more attractive of the two. This one
Both lived with their parents. Both had helped was an edge above her friend. Maybe it was
extending their parental residence and both just that the friend had more weight and
had extensively well designed decorated and height.
furnished private bedrooms within the main
property. Only that Lydia’s had an outside To him, Lydia was an angel. She was as
access door. beautiful as a lily in the valley after soft wash by
the rains. Somehow through her beauty she
Ndanatsiwa’s mother had baulked at seemed to have what looked like a slight
the plan saying her daughter was not a hooker discolouration on one side of her face. It ran
who needed bring in clients clandestinely. As a from near the left eye going down towards her
result, Ndanatsiwa had chosen the old route of chin. The colours of her skin there were different
walking through two passages to her own with a major discolouration. This was visible if
room. She first had to announce herself near one stared at her. He was cuckolded.
the lounge access through an arch so
everyone watching television in the lounge “Friends,” she had replied.
could log her time at entry.
“Is she coming?” He asked.
Then some days later they met again.
“She is,” Lydia had said stretching her
“My name is Lydia, we met the other legs. “What’s your number Philip?”
time at the wedding reception in the western
suburbs,” Lydia had said extending her hand. Philip watched the long legs encased
with a grey set of trousers with a white blouse
as the top. There was a breathing fire in his
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groin. Any medical examination would find his local artistes because of his skills. He mainly
blood pressure up. His blood had become hot. dances in church activities.”
He could see the blouse top rising and falling.
He was not sure he should be happy that “What does your father do?”
Ndanatsiwa was coming or sad that she should
not have come. “He is an electrical technician with the
national broadcaster, ZBC-Tv.”
He gave her.
A guy in a striped two piece suit came
“How is university?” She asked. kissing her on both of the cheeks. He smiled at
Philip. Philip smiled back. Philip guessed that
“College is a cup of cake. Where you the milk teeth of his were showing. He thought
ever there at Mount Pleasant?” he asked. maybe he had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s baby
face which made men know he was not a
“I did three years there,” she had replied. dating threat when he had elder ladies like
“I first trained three years as a state registered Ndanatsiwa and her friend Lydia. Lydia was
general nurse at Harare Hospital. When I literally more attractive than her friend
graduated at Harare, I was about twenty. Ndanatsiwa though they all tended to have
Three years later I was at the national the same huge frame as if they had been
university.” created in a plastic mould.
“Are you at Harare Hospital?” “Howard, this is Philip our friend,” Lydia
had said with a smile. “He is at college. He can
“No I am a senior operation theatre dance.”
nurse and tutor at Avenues Clinic,” she had
replied. Lydia and Howard, Ndanatsiwa and
Philip soon had dinner together. Ndanatsiwa
“Good,” he had replied. was the least talkative of the foursome while
Lydia and Howard were too talkative arguing
“You dance so well Philip. Is it in your
and cracking jokes. Philip on the other hand
family to dance?” she asked.
appeared like a man riding the waves coming
“I wouldn’t know but my father is a great here and there with a point that cracked their
dancer too. He has featured in videos by some ribs with laughter. In arguments, Philip would
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remain neutral coming up with a point to kill “Nothing happened,” Philip told the
either side. He was learned after all. truth. “She is a good woman much older than
me. She is much heavier too as you saw but
After supper Ndanatsiwa took Philip the bet remains a bet. We do date here and
home. Lydia was driven out by her charming there but not even a kiss or a hug.”
escort. Philip’s parents lived in Houghton Park.
She drove leisurely while he talked with her. She “Just enjoy the experience,” suggested
stopped in his road near his gate. He reached Oswald. “We will compare appropriate notes
over his hands resting on her upper thigh. Her later. Don’t fall in love Philip. Older women are
dress was between her legs. She removed his not okay. I don’t know what I would say to your
offending hands. Social Studies degree student girlfriend Nyasha
if you did.”
“I will see you Philip thanks for the time,”
she had said, “Had it not been for her friend I wouldn’t
have had her number. The friend is more
“Thanks for supper. A hug and kiss would accommodating,” Philip replied. “Nyasha and
do.” Ndanatsiwa seem to be blood sisters. They
should both have done well in a nun order of
“Another time perhaps,” she had replied. some sort. Morris how is the attachment in the
insurance industry?”
“Drive well sweetie,” he had replied.
“Not bad,” the friend had replied. They
She made a U-turn. She blew the horn.
had their beers. “Is there anyone who has
She drove past his gate. He raised his hand in
managed to date an older woman and
the night. He went indoors. He was at lunch
enjoyed the benefits?”
when he met Oswald and the other friend.
“My date said you are old enough to be
“Now even if you lie we will still have a
my son. That was the last time she appeared,”
beer with you,” suggested Oswald. “Our
Oswald had replied. “I should have asked her
wedding dare at dates all fizzled out except
why older women were having children with
yours.”
men the same age as their sons. I read such a
scandalous story about forbidden love in a
rural locale.”
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“With me the secretary from the sister Maybe the bet should have been on
company is a single mother. She is on her getting a sisterly older woman rather.
guard. It’s just a case of meeting and talking
before she gets into her transport home or if we On impulse he dialled the numbers of
meet on her way to work,” Morris said. “I tried Ndanatsiwa’s friend when he was home.
talking of bus fare and assignments costs. She
brushed these aside. I have to buy my own “Hi Philip,” Lydia had replied. They spoke
lunch when I am with her. It’s like dating your for about two minutes. “She can only chill
sister.” down if you keep probing. Don’t lose heart.
There is a party somewhere I want you to
“Why don’t you try taking both ladies to dance there. I told them about you. I didn’t
church?” suggested Oswald to which they had have the intention of inviting you though.”
a hearty laugh.
“Just holler,” he had replied.
“Would anyone care for another round
of beers?” Mid week he saw Ndanatsiwa less than
twenty minutes per the three days. Her moods
At the end he telephoned the home changed like the eastern wind blowing from
landline. Mozambique across the Pungwe Valley
spinning around Mount Nyanga. She was too
“Hi, is Ndanatsiwa in?” he had asked. sharp with him at times behaving like a hen
protecting its nest of eggs. He had seen female
“Hold,” he was told. tigers in heat almost killing the male who
wanted to sire his line with them. Maybe she
After three minutes talking he hung up. was like that. That excited him. Maybe he was
They made their way home. He had intended going to win the prize.
telling her off about her stiffness. She had
instead asked about his assignments “Phil?”
comparing his with her master’s degree
program running within two years. She was “Yes that’s me at home,” he had replied
more kind and considerate compared to the on the landline.
women his friends had tried dating.

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“How is your dating schedule?” She had “The women here seem to appreciate a
asked. young man better than you do. Who knows in
whose bed I may end up by the middle of the
“That one should be wearing a habit,” night?”
he had replied to which the other had
laughed. “Who knows which husband, boyfriend
or brother will make you get to hell quick?” She
“Be patient,” she had replied. had retorted.
“I am losing patience,” he had replied. “They promised free bear hugs and
French kisses. You won’t get pregnant hugging
“Here is your chance once more. I am will you?” he had asked. “I did like a good
inviting you to this party. Be decent and watch looking corpse while I am still young. Write on
what you do because she can raise hell,” she the epitaph, he died trying to ejaculate ____.”
had replied.
“Philip! Why don’t you behave? Don’t
“I will.” be a nuisance or embarrass yourself. Never let
beer talk for you. Find you at the vehicle in
He attended the party which was
thirty minutes time,” she had replied.
celebrating the life of a grandmother who had
reached seventy. On the individual dances “I am partying ____,”he turned to go. She
category there were no prizes. Philip showed got hold of his belt and pulled him back.
his prowess at dancing. He took his beer and “Unless you promise to kiss and hug and not
accepted invitations to dance. He was given behave like a gum tree I will stick here. Who
standing ovations for that craft. knows I may get hold of a single mom with her
own digs! You are the one making a scene
“Just in case you need go home I am
now.”
off,” Ndanatsiwa had sought him.
“Maybe I am not.”
“The party is still young. I will catch a ride
on any one vehicle,” he had replied. “It’s one word. I will come,” he replied.
“I am not leaving you here,” Ndanatsiwa
had replied. “I brought you here remember.”
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Philip had raised both hands in the air. “Let’s say I will drop you and pick you up.
One hand held a bottle of Castle. She let him No questions,” Lydia had replied. “In between I
go. He was popular in the dance category. have issues to deal with.”
Forty minutes later Ndanatsiwa called him on
his cell. She thought he would argue. He didn’t. “Is Ndanatsiwa coming?” he had asked.
Philip relented. She took him home. He “For today, let’s leave her out,” she had
unlocked the door at his parents’ home around replied. “You have to behave at the party. I
eleven in the evening. He remembered that don’t want a rude report.”
Ndanatsiwa had been yielding. They had
kissed and smooched in her vehicle. He had After classes in the evening he had
embarrassed himself by dumping his load waited by CABS First Street looking across at
when she had stoked him. She had refused to Africa Unity Square looking squarely at the cul
have casual sex. de sac that led from Second Street. He saw her
wave when she turned in a foreign looking
He had telephoned her friend to vehicle he had not expected.
complain about being bundled off when the
night was still young. “Hi,” Philip had said. He went into the
passenger seat.
“Another party?” he had asked.
There was a man shorter than Philip.
“Yes you have a reputation,” Lydia had Obviously he was not Howard. He had more
replied. “Do you see me and my friend as flesh. He looked like a secret police operative
being thirsty for youthful men?” from the movies complete with dark glasses. He
could see because he was driving.
“I never said that. Why do you have to
put words into my mouth Lydia? The last one “Hello Philip this is Stephen. Stephen on
she cut me off by taking me home.” Philip said. our way to Mazowe we are dropping Philip at
“The party was just beginning. There was Patricia’s party,” she had replied.
limited beer however.”
‘ “That is in Greendale?” Stephen had
asked.

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“Yes go through Arcturus Road,” she had “Yap,” he had answered.

directed.
“Did you leave Coronation Drive?” was a
“Mutare Road is better, just the traffic,” question.
Stephen had replied.
“I am still there but half the people have
The secret policeman had grunted. left.’”
Lydia had her legs up, her body was down as if
hiding from traffic. She wore a short white skirt “You saw the lady host I talked to?” she
and a blouse with tie ends on both sides in had asked.
royal blue. Three quarters of her upper legs
were on view to the driving seat at least. “Yes.”
Stephen kept glancing in the rear view mirror.
“Go and say good bye and leave the
Philip could not find a position to watch the leg
house,” she had shut off communication.
display show. Philip would surely see him doing
that. After all, it wasn’t for his benefit. She had He walked into the road. It was dark.
colourless high heeled shoes that looked like Who had said they were having extremely hot
they had been fashioned out of glass. sunny days when the night was as chilly as the
Sahara Desert at midnight? He looked around.
He was formerly introduced to the host in
There were no sand dunes or rocky outcrops.
Coronation Drive. He didn’t see when Lydia
There were walls within which were residences
and Stephen had left. Why did people ask for
bathed in light with dogs baying here and
him to dance? He did dance and drink. When
there to keep intruders out. It was very quite at
he last checked the time it was around eleven
that hour. A vehicle flashed its lights. He
in the evening which meant he was going to
headed for it. The passenger door next to the
find transport to be a problem.
driver was opened. He got in.
Philip did not worry about time. The
“How was the party?” she asked.
drinks flowed with the late night. The dances
continued. He was sitting on a crate after “Excellent,” he had replied. She was
visiting the gents watching the revellers. People applying lip ice or gloss to her mouth which
had thinned out, each leaving in available turned her lips cherry red. “How was Stephen?”
transport when he heard his phone vibrating.
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“If you made any advances on the “We do that is why I am here,” she had
ladies I will know first thing in the morning so will replied.
she,” she had replied.
“So what happened in Mazowe?” he
“I was just drinking and dancing as a had asked.
cousin of yours. It’s almost midnight,” she had
replied. “We booked a room. More questions?”
she asked.
“Yes I know. You told me to behave.”
What had she been doing in Mazowe
“Good observe the rules.” this late at night? They had booked a room so
what else did he want to know?
“It’s not safe time for a lady to be driving
alone,” he had replied. “You will need to book a room for me. I
am hot,” he had replied.
She started the vehicle. The skirt was a
different one. This one was flared with the “Do you take me for a hooker?” she had
colour of banana yellow. It was longer than her asked.
knees hiding the legs display that had been
happening in the vehicle on the way here. Had “I was not inferring that. When you have
the display been for him or for the other guy? a hot crotch you can say anything,” he had
replied,
“That is why I picked you up,” she had
replied. “Isn’t this what you should be saying to
Ndanatsiwa and your other girlfriends?” she
“Why did Stephen leave you to drive on asked.
your own?” he had replied.
“The college girls look down on those of
“If you need to know Stephen is in the us not gainfully employed. The ladies like your
arms of his loving wife,” she had replied. friend take time to agree to bedroom games.
The loose ladies, they bite faster than a shark.”
“I thought you were dating.”
“And you are caught in between?”

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She slowed down. They headed towards “And sodomy from men has several
a series of amber lights that changed to red. issues. Any homosexual man used as a ‘wife’
There was no other traffic. She kept her speed by other man, can sodomise a female rape
low looking both ways on the intersection. victim. Then an ordinary hoodlum who is
straight sex wise can also sodomise women just
“Don’t stop.” before they kill them. It takes different types of
things to bring a man his joy. Or the reverse, a
“I know you are afraid of thieves.” homosexual ‘wife’ or ‘husband’ or a straight
man can still rape a woman the normal way,
“Men they will beat or knife/club to
no excuses for us both.”
death but beautiful, sexy females with big
bosoms like you they will first rape without “So you would really enjoy my
protection,” he had replied. “I don’t know why discomfiture?” she tempted.
African men think making women pregnant is
macho.” “At least rapists in Zimbabwe have not
yet started forcing oral sex on their victims,” he
“What does protection have to do with a had replied to which she had laughed. Ï have
rape?” she had asked, read court papers. I am yet to come up with a
sodomy case involving females but young boys
“You will get HIV/AIDS a few seconds
have suffered. I haven’t read of oral rape any
before they kill you,” he had replied.
in this country.”
She increased speed shooting past the
“Like you said on sodomy, oral sex on
intersection.
rape victims can be used for both sexes,” she
“Maybe I will meet a bunch of had responded.
homosexuals who will let me watch while they
“With me they wouldn’t enjoy touching a
sodomise a young boy.”
flat chest or buttocks as lean as a Texan
“Man not boy.” rounding up his cattle. But for the fairer species,
the bosom and the backsides would be too
“I wasn’t referring to you. You would much of an attraction,” he had replied. “In
have been dead by then.” both cases rapists fear oral sex because the

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victim can lock their jaws to death. The results experience is very good especially if you have
can be very discomforting.” a man much younger than you to be the
father.”
“Philip, I am driving stop making me
laugh lest we end up at Parirenyatwa Hospital.” “I am not dating boys.”
“If I wasn’t going out with Ndanatsiwa I She took him to a flat in the Belgravia
would make you a mother of twin fraternal boy area. She parked the vehicle after going
and a girl,” he had suggested. through the security on the boom. Other details
were patrolling the car park for the residential
“I am incapable of having children. I had complex.
whatever that makes a lady a mother
removed surgically.” “Come this side,” she instructed. She had
switched off the engine.
“I am turning twenty-three years old.
How old are you now Lydia?” he had asked. He did. She locked the door from the
inside. When he came around she gave him a
“A woman’s age is her secret,” she had bag of groceries to carry. She followed behind.
replied putting him five to six years below her
age. “Is this where you live?” he asked.
“I wasn’t going to The Standard to reveal “No,” she had replied. “As for you, you
your age.” only come here when invited and given time.
Stick to time.”
“Anyway I don’t practice unprotected
sexual contact,” she had replied. “Further to “Then where do you live?” he had asked.
which I am not a hooker. I am a qualified state
registered nurse who increased her “I live in Kambuzuma with my parents. I
qualification to a bachelor’s degree. I am both am their third born. I have an elder brother and
a lecturer and nursing consultant.” an elder sister. The three of us bought the
place I will show you. We rent it off. Both are
“I am a law student, final year. Have you out of the country. Below me there is a younger
tried being a lactating mother? I heard the brother and a sister. My mother Fiona and her

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husband Walter had us five siblings within underneath her blouse removing her breasts
fifteen years.” and fingering her tits as they walked.
“You have a tight family huh?” “I was just asking. Maybe we should just
kind of live together.”
“And you?”
“You heard the rules?”
“I am the eldest of four. The sister after
me is doing money and banking first year “Yes I will abide,” he had replied.
degree at Midlands State University. The other
two a boy and a girl are in boarding school.” “Do you have a choice?” she asked.
“Really?’ “I wait for supper.”
“Is the elder sister married?” “Didn’t they feed you at the party?”
“People in the United Kingdom rarely “Not this type.”

marry, If need be they just live together,” she
replied. “They don’t like raising children too. Why did this woman have such a point
They are chasing after the British pound blank short gun charge of a mouth? He could
sterling.” feel the heat of her body pressed against his.
He was in second Heaven serve that he was
“Are you married Lydia?” breathing in more than two orifices. They went
up to the third or fourth floor. The complex was
“Philip if you are fond of kicking with your silent. They were the only traffic going up the
mouth watch out,” she had said on the second steps. Her heeled shoes were making sounds.
floor. She had a foul tongue and a temper to By the time she started for the third floor, he
match. had put his hand underneath her sweater
going up the steps arm in arm caressing her
Maybe that was why she wasn’t married. baby feeding apparatus. By the time she had
He took the groceries on one hand and the door locked and secured, he had no
wrapped the other around her waist. She did clothes on. Her hands were inside his crotch
not complain even when his arm was taking a gamble.
removed. He instead inserted it from
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“Sorry about that. First impressions are not “No, I am not a sugar mummy,” she had
the best.” His body had invested in premature replied.
production.
____________________________________
“I should have known you are just but a
grown up boy.”
“Do you have to scold me time and time Three weeks later he woke up in the
again?” he asked. “Where does your father morning in the flat. He had a hangover. He had
work Lydia?” been living in paradise with a queen. He had
been proving to her that he was a man well
He pulled her to him and closed her worth consideration. The other guys were being
mouth with his for the next ten minutes mesmerised by his stories and free beer. In the
kneading her bosom. He showed her he was a flat she was strict on hygiene because she
real man. He made her know that he was the didn’t want the cleaner to have a double duty.
boss for that day. He made her realize the They didn’t live together. He only came here
statics were right. Young men had too much when invited to which was at times two days in
staying power. a room within the week when it had no visitors.
“In case you want to marry he is a She used it fully furnished as a rental
construction manager with Fort Concrete while property to tourists and locals coming into the
my mother is an Administration manager with city with families that did not want the costs of
Dairibord Zimbabwe head office. I am the third hotels. It had one ensuite bedroom with two
child out of five of Fiona and Walter Shashe, sharing a toilet and bathroom. There was a
anything else?” well designed and furnished lounge, dining
room and a fitted kitchen.
“Lydia you are so pretty.”
“Hi,” she said from the other side.
“Why, thank you,”
“Hello, good morning. I could do with a
“Why don’t we live together?” beer.”
“Not this early in the morning. You know
what Philip,” Lydia had said. “We have to be
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out of here in a jiffy. Did you contact “Just like that?” he had asked. “Are you
Ndanatsiwa?” chucking me out of the flat or our romance?”
“She was the one who contacted me “You saw the character I took with you
about three times. Each time I had valid to the Coronation Drive party?” she asked.
reasons to reject her dates. She fizzled out. She
never contacted me again,” he had replied. “Yeah.”
“Don’t contact her again.” “If you say anything to Ndanatsiwa or try
to contact me again he will kill you. He is with
“Why do I need to when I have you as the secret service. Get out!”
big momma?”
____________________________________
“Hey stop pulling at my blouse. Didn’t I
say we have to be out? Didn’t I give you rules
before?” she had asked pulling out of his
embrace.
Why did beautiful women become

vixens at most times? Why did they change
from being warm and yielding to standing on
their high heels moving their head, eyes in slits
and coughing out their authority? Why did they
want their man at a certain time and not at
when the man was breathing fire? How did
one tame such a wild vixen of a woman like
Lydia?
“What?”
“I never date the same man for three

weeks so you better dress up and leave before
someone comes along,” she had replied.

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gumi
nematatu (13)

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___________________________________
Richmond had business to attend to. He

was scheduled to be meeting with his clients
elsewhere when his Mazda pickup was
involved in a side collusion with another vehicle
in Westminster Avenue, Sentosa. When things
went wrong they just turned wrong one after
the other. They had talked like grown men. The
reason had been council or they always found
reasons to blame council. There was a patch of
grass that had overgrown which had meant
Richmond had not seen the other vehicle or he
was just in a rush. In a polite sense, he was
wrong and liable to cover the damages.
While some Good Samaritan motorist

collected two police traffic details, Richmond
agreed to have the other party’s vehicle
repaired. That made the police report much
easier to come out. They signed the short
statement the police detail had written which
acted as a legal basis of a memorandum of
agreement/understanding as long as the
police detail did not lose the small notebook.
The notebooks were never lost. The bigger files
called dockets had a way of disappearing. He
called a break down truck to collect his vehicle
while the other man decided to drive his as it
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was pending panel beating, body filler, sand “But your carvings are already in Paris,”
papering and spray painting. Macario had cried. “Look at the conveyances
and other costs.””
The accident was chewing on his
resources in the later stages. Right now he was “Tell the dealer to ship them back at
way behind time. He ended up in Danberry cost.“ Richmond had said.
Avenue after taking a ride on public transport.
The problem with public transport was it “But Richmond,” the other had said.
depended on their routes. The other problem “That is a loss in business.”
was he was very much unused to this type of
“Daichi, I am the creator. I think this is too
transport. Earlier in his career either as carver or
low a price,” Richmond had replied.
carpenter, when he had no transport,
Nyashadzashe or one of his siblings always had “But who will suffer the loss?” Macario
a reason to leave a vehicle in Highfield. asked.
Even his late grandfather had known the “If both of you are not willing to suffer the
value of time. When they sent a message loss, consider carefully,” Richmond said. “You
through their Rusape based aunt that they can cancel the contract. If it is legal impossible
were coming, there was always a tractor and then gentlemen lets use our handkerchiefs as
trailer or a Daihatsu truck awaiting them. He we make a slight downward adjustments in
didn’t fancy driving around in Richard’s Isuzu profits.”
250-D double can however. Taxis were hard to
find in outlaying suburban areas except near “Richmond,” Macario said. “You are
the shops were people with fuel savers offered being impossible.”
services. Near to shopping complexes he had
discovered a few private vehicles that were “Macario, I worked out the mathematics.
used for taxis. He had attended his meeting I won’t incur that loss as to sell for a pittance. I
with one of his clients better late than never. did rather resale them elsewhere where people
appreciate a good price,” Richmond replied.
“The price is daylight robbery Macario,”
Richmond had finalised.
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“We have a contract ______, “Macario All he could see were the lines created
replied. He swore in Greek. He was big and when water in the road met with tyres creating
beefy like his brother. hissing sounds and upward movement where
the water fell a few centimetres away from the
“Go and read the details gentlemen. I crunching wheels. The tarred road
can withdraw any sale from anywhere as long temperature had equalized to that of the rains.
as I don’t engage another agent.” The rains had stopped producing a white
steam as the heated tar met the cooler rains.
Richmond had walked out of the
The raindrops were just ricocheting off the tar
residence. The two Greek brothers did not see
or the vehicles passing by.
him off as they were used to. It was a bad day
getting worse. He felt the pressure coming to The rains increased in density. A curtain
bear. Sweat ran down his hairline onto his neck. of white like misty rain was coming down
His handkerchief was not enough to keep the Dunberry road towards him driven by a rise in
rivulets at bay. He started down Dunberry Road the blowing wind. A metallic orange Volvo V60
heading south towards Sherwood Drive to get sedan screeched to a stop. The rear door
a lift. He was just into Sherwood Drive when the opened.
rains he hadn’t noticed started falling. Large
raindrops started hitting the ground. “You are wet?”
First they chose different spots each time “Yes ma’am,” he had replied. “I stood
they came. As he walked briskly they increased like a baboon sentinel trying to find a lift to no
in both density and speed at falling. When had avail.”
the cloud gathering started? Why hadn’t he
been aware of the clouds and drop in “Get in.“ She had instructed. “I don’t
temperature? Oh the Greek brothers had a fire pick up passengers especially the male variety.
going in their range. He had been too upset by The rains made me make an exception. I felt
the status report from the agent in Paris to sorry for you. It’s just a lift into the city at no
notice. He stood there by the corner of the charge.”
road making signs for lifts but the vehicles were
“Thank you very much ma’am.”
whizzing past.
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He closed the rear passenger door that Chaplin Street driving with first Old Hararians
had been opened for him. Sports club to their right followed further down
by Prince Edward and Allan Wilson High
“You can be a human sentry in the back Schools to her left while Selbourne Rutledge
seat if you don’t mind,” she had replied. School was to the right. She turned east, left
into Jameson Avenue West before turning right,
“I will try and be a scarecrow too,” he
to the south into Rotten Row.
had replied.
“That is my old school.”
She started driving off. Thank God for the
women who came after Adam. Somehow she “Which? Wilkins Infectious Diseases
found a face towel in her handbag which she Hospital?” she had asked.
handed to him. There was the sound of music
and the swish swash of wipers. The vehicle They had a good laugh.
looked modern and well kempt. Maybe
because it was lady driven it kept its interior in “I did my lower and upper sixth at Prince
beautiful shapes. The seats had been covered Edward High School coming all the way from
in a layer of secondary seat cover to protect Highfield.”
the original. These covers looked like a person
“I did my lower and upper sixth at Girls
was sitting on winter wear or winter jacket
High School,” she had replied. “I was coming
material. These had a tendency to be warm.
from Glen View. I was not far away. Through
They exuded comfort like now.
the sporting activities, debates etc why didn’t
“I am headed for the city,” she had said. we meet?”
“Any way into the city will do for me,” he “We may have.”
had replied.
In between they talked.
She switched on her heater filling the car
“I had a bad day.”
with warm air. She drove almost southwards
heading down Suffolk Road into West Road. “You walked into the rain?” she asked.
From West Drive she turned left to Drummond
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“Not only that. I had collusion in “Do you display your craft work by the
Westminster Avenue. I was too psyched up not side of the road like they do near the Heroes
to notice the other car. I should have observed Acre along Bulawayo Road close to the
the give way sign. I can’t blame the city National Sports Stadium?” she had asked.
authorities for not cutting grass. Not much
damage but I let the tow truck take away my “No I work with renowned galleries in the
vehicle. I didn’t want to drive a vehicle that city that link to overseas buyers. My material
called for stares.” can be viewed in these galleries before it is
shipped overseas. It is shipped with others
“Oh?” materials when there are available containers
and berths in Durban. That is a shipping and
He emptied his heart. forwarding agent’s job. Mine is to create what
my customers will buy. Since I started I noted
“You are an artist?”
that local art lovers are rare and far in
“Yes, I will have to brace for a loss and between.”
costs of relocating my artefacts,” he had
“Maybe it’s like the Saudi Arabians not
replied.
knowing the blessed value of sand.”
“I couldn’t even paint a face at school,”
She stopped at an eatery in the city.
she had replied. “Are you a visual artist?”
“Let me offer you a hot meal on my
“Yes. Visual arts include fashion design,
ticket.”
interior décor, decorative arts like you see on
vehicles in the Indian sub-continent. They “Thanks,” he had agreed. “At times
include ceramic deign art, drawing and when I am worried or on edge I don’t eat
painting, photography, sculpturing and which causes me stomach problems.”
carvings too. It is quite a long range of things
that fall under visual arts. In overseas countries The lady thought that he was poor. He
you can take a degree in these alone.” didn’t wait to correct her. He ordered T-bone
steak and mashed potatoes while she selected

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leg of lamb and pasta. They rounded it up with released so much information from both of
ice cream and different shades of salad. them.
“My name is Richmond Kangira.” “Highfield is synonymous with politics and

political heavy weights not artistes.”
“I am called Ndanatsiwa Katokwe. Now
tell me about your contract and stuff like that. I “The difference is we don’t represent a
am not promising anything but legal advice.” constituency neither do we campaign for
votes. We work in the background. The
“You are a lawyer?” he had asked. limelight is not very good before you become
established. We hardly make it into the news.
“I am in the legal trade. I won’t charge
Those that do are either well established or
you though,” she had simplified. “Do you
they receive a visitation from the print and
smoke or drink?”
electronic media by freak chance.”
“I don’t do either.”
“Meeting you has been very, very
“I don’t also,” she had replied. “Where productive Richmond.”
do you stay?”
She had shaken his hand when she
“I have a rental flat in Montagu Avenue stopped the vehicle before the imposing gates
corner Fourth Street near Harare Sports Centre. of the Highfield residence before her.
However I was supposed to have a meeting
“Thanks a lot Ndanatsiwa. I will call you
with my family in Highfield,” he had explained.
later.”
“Where do you live lady?”
“My pleasure sir.”
“I live in Glen View with my parents.”
She reversed before heading home.
After their meal she drove him in the
front seat now that he was warm and “Thanks a million Ndanatsiwa, please
comfortable for Highfield dropping him home. take care.”
It was surprising how a chance encounter had

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“See you too Richmond.” They will meet the percentage they should
make as a loss,” she had replied.
_________________________________
“Can I take you out for lunch?” he had
asked.
He had a date with her again. They sat in “My schedule is tight unless you want I
her office perusing his agreements with the and you ______ don’t worry. I have your
Greek brothers for about an hour. She had number I will call you,” she had replied.
slotted the time between twelve thirty and two
after he had telephoned twice. First she had Was he to dream on those big eyes
told him to phone after she had left the Deeds dreamingly looking at him from their sockets
Registry. That way she now had lunch time behind which was an intelligent and educated
covered. She had ordered for them food from brain?
TM Supermarket.
He had selected mashed potatoes,

salad and stewed beef while she had taken ____________________________________
beef and rice with salad. They had topped up
with mineral drinks that had been chilling in her
office refrigerator. “Richmond, besides carving which is
artistry work, what other things do you do for a
“As far as the agreement is concerned,” living?” Ndanatsiwa had asked. “What else
she had given her own opinion. “If you cancel butters your bread if I may ask broadly? I once
you are liable for damages. If they also cancel thought you were a little mouse that exhibits
the same unless you mutually agree.” besides the roads where tourists travail. Now
that the tourist arrivals are in decline because
“I just didn’t like the downward trend in of the drought, I was feeling sorry for you.”
prices offered.”
“I am a skilled carpenter by profession,”
“Then both parties have to meet the he had replied.
costs based on your percentage structure.
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“You mean you are an employee?” knees. She had on her feet what looked like a
mixture of a sandal and a shoe. The top was
“I used to work for Johnson & Fletcher open with shoes laces that ran from her toes to
the building merchants before they downsized her ankles. Her head had been attended to.
when the economy sneezed. I mostly do Her hair was in curls without any gathering or
consultative and contract work for any projects apparatus to keep the hair in shape and in
where I am remembered by friends, family or place. Her face looked radiant like she had
someone sees my personal advertisements. I won a competition.
advertise in the press normally on Thursdays,
Business Herald and Sunday in the Sunday Mail “Have you been married before?”
or News when people enjoy the newspapers
the most then normally Tuesdays in the “No, never,” she had replied. “I fell into a
Financial Gazette and Fridays. trap of having long dates that fizzled out. You
know when you go out with a man for a year
That is where my bread and butter come and a half its time wasted when you discover
from. Artwork on the other hand can consume that he has chosen another girl in your place."
my time but it does pay well except that it
mainly does that after an exhibition. It is like a “Women, you normally check the man’s
tobacco farm working against the weather bearings before accepting marital proposals.”
deep in debt with the local banks having to
wait for the floors to open so that the auction “What sort of bearings?”
can take away the red ink. If you sale before
“Employment status versus your own cosy
the auction you may short sell by some margins
jobs and perks. You don’t want to marry below
that can buy a John Deere tractor. We share
your level.”
the same problems with us artistes.”
“Would you marry an unschooled rural
“I am not prying,” she had said feeling
lady who just flunked ordinary level?”
bad. “I am just establishing some bare and
hard facts.” “No.”
She was wearing a pink short sleeve V “Then we are equally to blame.”
neck blouse. Underneath she had a long skirt in
black that reached between her ankles and
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“A man can go out with a lady below “There are so many carpenters here. If
their social status without much of a problem you drive down Rotten Row going south east to
except that the gents club will remind him of north east where after the traffic section near
that. You women on the other hand don’t wait the cemetery the road becomes Cripps, tom
for disapproval from friends. Seem lady even the left and right, right up to the junction of
asked for my payslip.” and in Harare Road South, there are many
carpenters, welders and other artisans there.”
At that she had laughed her head off.
“There was the Economic Structural
“Richmond don’t flutter me.” Adjustment Program that saw government,
state assisted, state run and other companies
Imba Matombo restaurant was a very shedding excess labour which ended up in the
beautiful professionally run establishment to streets doing the same work they did in the
bring a lady for supper. They served good west manufacturing industry. You only have to go to
and African dishes. Richmond was picking on Mbare’s Siyaso Market to see people welding
his roast pork ribs, mixed spinach and parsley hammers, chisels, set squares and planes. The
vegetable salad and rice while she had carpentry they do most is self-taught or they
chosen her local breed of staple, sadza and T- became assistants to carpenters who were
bone steak with green beans in tomato soup. taught by skilled carpenters.
“Apprentice trained?” The difference is in professionalism. A civil
engineering technician can lead a team of
“Yes for four years though by the time we
workers building a bridge by his understanding
were attested to journeyman status it was four
and experience and that of a civil engineer
years and a quarter plus several weeks in
are different. I once worked and I still work with
between. Blame in on bureaucracy or red
civil engineers. I design roof system and civil
tape. The biggest and most exciting part of the
engineers disagree with my design for different
training was the area I frequented while under
reasons not the reverse.”
instruction was the same rural area my father
comes from. I was moving from Mutare, “You are comparing yourself with others.
Chipinge, Rusitu Valley thence north to Unfortunately in my trade we have legal
Nyanga and right into Rusape via Headlands.” assistants who can be lawyers who have just
graduated. Due to registration and legal
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constraints they do not practice but can be as “Oh, remind me when I need the roof
knowledgeable as the senior partners.” done.”
“I can read house plans to quantify the “We do work fit for men not like you
amount of carpentry and joinery needed. I can women. It takes you twenty minutes to do your
prepare layouts of the project including face for dinner.”
estimation of materials and labour requires
based on the plan if it’s the construction sector. “I didn’t take twenty minutes,” she
I check out height, width, length, weight, responded.
materials including the bonding of wood and
other materials like granite top finishes. “Women!” He snorted. “Why don’t you
go natural like us men?”
“I use chisels, planes, saws, drills, vice
grips and mattocks for repair or erection of He took his carafe of wine. The carafe
work. I am used to working with ladders or was as big as his face. When he held it up her
power tools like drills, grinders, saws and face was the colour of honey mixed with
electric planning machines. I know the mahogany. Her lips were spreading in size. He
specifications of council, the safety concerns put the wine glass down. Maybe the waiter
and durability of materials. The carpentry hang had put Heineken instead.
outs you are talking about can’t read plans or
“Natural as in _______?”
take instructions from civil engineers because
they never trained for that. I can do mock ups “You put on facial make up. You do your
to see how the plan will look.” hair this and that. You shampoo it. You pit on
false nails. You do eye shadow and make up.
“You work in the construction industry?”
We just have our hair and beard trimmed.”
she asked.
“What exactly is your point?” she asked.
“If we get such a contract I can
supervise. I can supervise the construction of “Nothing, just boasting.”
doors, ledges, beams, lintels, complicated
roofs, fitted kitchens, built in wardrobes and “And you do not add anything to your
other issues.” face?”

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“Very little,” She had had a laugh. She looked at him

with a smile on her face. Her hand was
“You smell of shampoo or perfume,” she propping her chip up.
retorted. He looked around him to which she
burst out laughing. “Gotcha!” “How old are you Richmond?” she
asked. “You are so sweet to talk to. Is that how
“Did you go to the local university?” you charm the daylights out of all your
women?”
“Yes for four years. I was a resident there.
My father refused to have me commuting,” she “Twenty-seven/eight and no to the last
had replied. question.”
“After advanced levels the choice of “Why, we are almost the same age,” she
degree I had received at University of had replied. “Our breed of unmarried seniors is
Zimbabwe did not do well for me. I instead thinning every year.”
went for apprenticeship carpentry with Dave
Solomon Timbers for four years in Mutare.” “Really?” he had replied. “What other
things do we share?”
“So you speak the Manyika dialect?”
She drove him home leisurely.
“Yeah I do.”
“You could come in,” he had said at his
“Do you have your own biological flat.
children?”
“Not tonight thanks Richmond. Another
“I am still single.” day perhaps?” she had replied.
“In the closet, like illegitimate?” “Are you afraid of your virtue?” he had
asked. She reversed back into Montagu
“Like none that I know of. I made sure Avenue.
the women were barren,” he had replied. “I
learnt a lesson from my grandfather not to “I don’t have any virtue to defend. No,
throw seed around.” besides I am not barren.”

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“I don’t throw seed around.” background, out of earshot? When food was
suggested, a black maid suddenly appeared.
She had driven away. Besides the dull
engine sound he heard her laughter. He got into the neon lit city of Harare in
the evening. He checked his cell phone. He
alighted from the vehicle. Ndanatsiwa had four
missed calls yet he hadn’t heard them.
__________________________________
“I am in Fife Avenue,” he had said. “I was
on my way home. Sorry I didn’t hear the phone
ringing or see your missed calls list until now.”
He had paid the tow truck, the panel
beater and spray painter while taking “I am in um the last road sign post that I
everything to the insurance company in the saw said Divine Road, Milton Park about to
event that he got reimbursed. After this he had leave. I will drive down Clayton Road towards
to track the exports he had made through his Princess Road. Did you say you did your
agent which were moving from one country to primary at Selborne Routledge School?”
another. They had not yet reached the freight
forwarder when the Greek Brothers called him “I did my junior school in the high density.
in. They moved the freight to Cyprus instead We made raiding parties into the grasslands
where there was an exposition. surrounding Highfield to look for grasshoppers
and to hunt birds.”
“Sorry, we Greek are known for our short
temper,” Macario had said. “Putting the stuff in “So you would have offered me a locust
Cyprus will give us time to think. If our contacts or grasshopper whatever the difference had
suggest otherwise we will advice you.” we met earlier instead of a rose? Okay
secondary is when you went to Wilkins
“Okay. “ Infectious Diseases Hospital?” she said before
breaking off with laughter. “Sorry about the
Richmond had shaken hands with
lose joke. Can I see you somewhere?”
Macario and Daichi. Why was it that when he
visited the two, their wives were always in the

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He remembered the first sight he had “How will you come back to the flat?”
seen a big lady in a Volvo vehicle who had she had asked.
given him a lift when it had been raining.
“I will worry about that later,” he said.
“The flat?” he had suggested.
“Come,” she said.
“No ways. Remain at Five Avenue shops I
am coming,” she had suggested. He opened the passenger door. She
drove leisurely for Highfield singing songs with
“Oh you are afraid of your virtue?” him. She headed for Glen View instead. She
stopped the vehicle outside her home. He
“I am not barren. I may end up the traced his hands on her hand on the gear shift
mother of visual artistes.” lever.
They had supper in an upmarket upstairs “I will trust you bring my vehicle to the
joint. It was marinated beef, roast potatoes, office tomorrow morning without fail, without a
apple and pineapple salad and their mineral dent in the paintwork.”
drinks. There was a comedy show in a bar
nearby which they joined half way through. “Are you the first born?”
They laughed a lot most of the time. The
comedy was good. They joined the dance “Yes my two younger sisters have married
floor for a dance or two. He was very ahead of me.”
impressed with her. For her bulk, she could
dance very well. He took her hand. They went “I am the last,” he had said. “I am also
down to the streets below. the only one who hasn’t married, yet.”
“Are you not going to Highfield?” she He stood with her by the vehicle for a
asked. few minutes. He took her in a bear hug. Her
fingers drummed on his back. He chose her
“Why not?” He asked though he had mouth in the darkness. His hands wrapped
had no intention. around her back moving up and down. If it
was a massage, she seemed to like it. He kissed
her. She didn’t resist.

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“Richmond I am not ________,” “I will freeze my appointments,” he had

replied.
He closed her mouth with his hugging her
again. She was warm, soft and yielding. “Can I pick you at the flat or in town?”
she had asked.
“I like you Ndanatsiwa. You are so
simple.” “I will phone you and give you the finer
details,” he had suggested.
“Really? I was just saying I am not a saint.
I made mistakes in life. Don’t expect to date an Darius had told him one time that he was
angel,” she had replied. too serious. He should take breaks which
improved his work.
He hugged her again. He drove to
Highfield before going to his flat block an hour “To remove the clutter,” Darius had
later. Why did mother say she was warming suggested. “Break off. Take time in a holiday
food for about half an hour? Ironically, he resort. Get a girl if you don’t have one already
parked her Volvo next to his Toyota Harrier. and release the pressure. Two weeks later
when you come, less artefacts and more
____________________________________ value, huh?”
“I will consider that.”
“Are you free Saturday?” “You should have a Greek ancestor. You
are hard headed.”
She had asked on the phone on a Friday
while he was at the studio finishing up around “Darius!” He had broken out laughing.
seven in the evening. Why did the muse come “Maybe we are related.”
when he was pressed with appointments? Why
did he become so creative after suffering “Go to Athens for three days and relax.
blocks of non creativity? Had we colonised your country, you would
have been living in Athens.”
“Saturday is tomorrow.”
“I know that.”
boomerang boomerang
“I am afraid of the Macedonian air “Did you book?” He had asked strapping
force mistaking my passenger plane for a up.
Serbian military transport.”
“No need for two people to book,” she
He had texted her to be in Baines had replied.
Avenue by seven in the morning or earlier. He
had further expressed her to be in long shorts or “Let’s go to Marondera,” he had replied.
loose trousers with loose fitting t-shirts or cotton
blouses plus to carry a change of clothes She found them hugging traffic in
including a hat/cape. Lomagundi Road heading west instead of east.
“Since when do you dictate a lady’s “Marondera Road has changed its
taste in clothes?” She had fired back. views. Now I see the Westgate shopping centre
instead of Ruwa turn off.”
“You can wear what you want. You will
be on a merry-go-round. Dresses will fly “You need spectacles girl.”
upwards,” he had texted back. “Then you will
He drove her to Chinhoyi for a day
fall flat on sandy muddy soil.”
outing on that Saturday. They were at
“Hmm?” Chirorodziva Pools by nine seeing especially
the sleeping pool. They had breakfast in
She rang him at a quarter to seven telling Chinhoyi afterwards. They discussed the beauty
him she was in the Volvo. He came trotting in of the caves and their sleeping pool. They
half length jean shorts and cotton short sleeve talked about all the legends that they had
shirt holding a small one hand bag. She stood heard of.
outside the vehicle. She wore jeans shorts cut
around her knees with an overlapping blouse. “Is it true that there is a link from
Underneath it was a black tight top without Chinhoyi’s subterranean paths to Lake Kariba
sleeves. She hugged him before taking the as suggested by people?” She asked over
passenger seat. breakfast.
“I intended taking us to a game reserve “If it were true that there is such a
in Marondera,” she had said. legendary link remember that Lake Kariba was

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constructed in 1955 to 1959. So how come the “You just want to disbelieve my story.”
legend is so modern? Besides which before the
construction of Lake Kariba, the valley where “Those are hard facts my dear. I
the myriad waters flow as a lake was called understand the Sleeping Pool is quite deep.
Gwembe. This means in my language a They estimate that it is between 80 to 90 metres
disease valley because of the impressive heat depending on the rainfall received. The more
and dryness. Most of the heat was caused by abundant the rainfall, the deeper the pool
microwave effect of the hills surrounding the becomes. Some divers have gone in and
valley and the rocks below. Had water been explored with some fatalities when air ran out I
seeping from an underground river towards heard otherwise I wouldn’t dive in there for a
Gwembe Valley, we would have heard about dollar.”
it. The source of Lake Kariba is the Zambezi
Valley not a stream from Chinhoyi.” “The parks and wildlife rangers said the
name Chirorodziva means the pool of the
“Maybe there are underground tunnels, fallen,” she said.
more like natural ones,” she had suggested.
“The Ngoni tribes when they passed
“Had they existed, the Rhodesian army through the area centuries ago are said to
would have mined those tunnels years ago have thrown the local inhabitants they
between 1973 and 1979 when guerrillas were captured into the sleeping pool or the dark
crossing the Zambezi River infiltrating the cave. You know in those days warriors killed
country. The guerrillas would also have used men of war. Men were treated in the same
them to transport arms and equipment.” way that a raiding party of male lions do to an
alpha male responsible for the pride. They
“Maybe they are too small.” either kill the alpha male or maim and send it
out of the tribe. They kill all cubs to start their
“I wouldn’t know Ndanatsiwa. However I own progeny.”
understand there may be underground river
channels linking the Zambezi Valley to Chinhoyi “Where we talking of lions and alpha
which I doubt. The whole country has males?” she asked with intelligence.
underground water with small streams flowing
from one higher area to another but no known “We were talking about the Ngoni tribe.
real river like the Gijon in Jerusalem.” They captured the pretty wives and daughters
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of the defeated tribes. Women as pretty as you Unfortunately both defendants and the
or my sisters were hustled away.” besieging armies were thrown into the caves
themselves. That is why villagers talk of ghosts
“So?” she asked. that beat drums at night or cattle that are
heard in the pits of the caves. True or false I
“You would have survived the raid.” don’t know except that dolomite stone is not
good for sculpting.”
“Richmond!”
“And my theories on beautiful women go
“I wouldn’t have minded being a chief
up in smoke?” he asked.
then being presented with eligible spinsters to
take as wives. With someone like you I wouldn’t “That is flattery.”
remember how to fight a war again. Who
would marry many wives with a woman as fair “Ndanatsiwa you are what some people
as you? The Bible says that Sarah and Rebecca call big and curvy chick. You are a tall mature
were very fair. I am just willing to be Abraham woman with a strong physique. You are a
or Isaac and you remain fair.” voluminous but highly attractive lady. To
someone you are just a big woman blocking
“The rangers said there was a bandit their view. To me you are the most beautiful
called Nyamakwere who ran an outlaw outfit woman this side of the country has ever
that robbed and threw people into the pool created. May my sun rise and set upon you.
before he was defeated by a chief called May you experience me as your sole provider
Chinhoyi hence the name,” she responded. in terms of love?”
“We took had our own pirates and Robin
Hoods who operated before the land was Where had the poetry come from?
desecrated by the Caucasian blood.”
“Could we tour the small town? I have
“Are you a relative of this Nyamukwere finished breakfast,” she had suggested putting
outlaw or his band?” her napkin down and standing up. She
adjusted her top.
“Richmond! Whatever the story maybe it
is a true fact that people used the caves to Whatever he had intended to say he
escape their enemies during tribal warfare. forgot or he forgo. He paid taking her for a
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walk into the town emerging with ice creams moment. They topped a rise. He drove into a
coming from the opposite end from where straight road leaving the hills behind. “They
they had parked forty minutes later. needed not be pregnant because
Nyamakwere did not like another man’s seed.”
He drove back through the Great Dyke.
Folds in the Earth had created rich hills full of “Unfortunately the raiding parties are no
mineral deposits stretching from Zvishavane more.”
four hundred off kilometres to as far as Lion’s
Den. It expressed itself by broken hills and He turned south of south east towards
twisting roads. From within the vehicle he could Darwendale. He took her hand in his. They
just hear the audible hum of the engine as it cruised through the hills and dales going
did not even strain up the hilly passes. through valleys and stretches of flat land. He
changed gears with her hand under his. The
“The hilly stretch is very pleasant,” she roads twisted and turned avoiding hills and
suggested from the passenger seat. negotiating between hills. They could see parts
of the large expanse of what locals called
“It is unnerving if you are in an over Darwendale dam which was Lake Manyame.
loaded passenger vehicle like a bus and it
stops with the engine running unable to climb He stopped the vehicle were a
because of the load and strain on the engine. shimmering carpet of water could be seen.
Worse if it starts to go in reverse.” Ripples appeared like communication signals,
moving from one end of the other as the wind
“It is very difficult to climb these hills if you blew gently. Those that died on the way were
are in a pickup loaded with hardwood stubs joined by fresh ones made by the wind or any
meant for some carver and the brakes start to creature dipping into the water.
fail,” she suggested.
“No one advised me we were heading
“When Nyamakwere raided in the old towards a lake,” she summed up.
days, no woman dared make fun of her
husband/man. He would exchange her for “You are just too bulky I would have
Nyamakwere’s peace. Women then were stopped the vehicle.”
bargaining chips. A man just needed to marry
many beautiful ones,” was all he said for the “And?”
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“I would have picked you up and run They returned in the evening. By the time they
into the water with you on my shoulder. After drove back she knew the dam wall was so
the baptism maybe you will feel inclined to be wide she had walked back and from for more
more yielding to quench the heat inside of than three and a half kilometres.
me,” he had said.
She also knew the names of fish found in
“Fortunately I am too big. Unfortunately I the local river systems. She had also changed
don’t feel like doing the reverse.” the third and last time into denim shorts and
overlapping blue t-shirt with gold ensigns. They
“Your cousin the hippo would welcome had walked hand in hand and arm in arm for
you.” more than an hour. She now knew tiger fish
only inhabited Lake Kariba and other large
“Richmond! I may be ugly but not as ugly bodies of water. She also now knew the shrill
as the hippo.” call of the fish eagle.
“Okay ugly duckling.” “Thanks for the outing,” she said from the
passenger seat. “This was a jam-packed day.
He followed a road that twisted and
Maybe it required accommodation near the
turned with hill buttresses appearing like
lake.”
Ndebele warriors showing their butts to the
white colonists. They reached the expanse of “That is what carpenters do when they
the lake which at one time had been the date ladies with degrees,” he had replied.
largest inland lake in the country before 1980.
The dam wall alone was about two kilometres “Nobody is suffering from inferiority
across. complex.”
For lunch she chose lasagne. He “Thank you for the assurance.”
selected mashed potatoes soufflé with Gouda
cheese and ham slices. They had a lake cruise. “I told the game rangers to count the
His idea of finishing his carving was blown to Mopani trees and not worry about their
pieces yet he had relaxed. Both had talked to delicacy, the Mopani worms. Though they are
local fishermen who wadded into deep water hardwoods, I warned them there was a wood
to fish casting lines. He had tried catching fish.
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carver with power tools and equipment Besides that she liked the large
prowling around __________.” headboard and its honey brown coating
complete with a dressing table, chest of
“Ndanatsiwa!” drawers and reading lights. There was a
desktop computer, central processing unit, a
He drove to the flat as the sun was printer and a scanner tucked in a corner with
setting. their own desk. He opened the curtains and
windows to allow air to rush in.
“Do come in for a cup of coffee or a
can of Coke.” “What a wonderful flat?” She peaked at
his neighbours across the divide. “It’s almost as
“Of course why not,” she had replied. good as a townhouse near Newlands
Shopping Complex that I had a privilege to
She went up ahead of him when he
tour.”
unlocked. Women! Her first port of call had
been the toilet. She liked what she saw. On the “Thanks,” he had said.
ground the entrance opened into an entrance
foyer which was adorned with portraits on both “Do you own or rent?” She had asked.
sides. There was a single settee. To the left
there was an arch that opened to the lounge “I own it. I gave up two flats that I had to
which had modern furniture with French buy this one. They were however bedsitters,”
windows to bring in solar sanity and fresh air. To he had replied. “In my trade you have to invest
her immediate left a passage led to the in case the rainy days without sunshine come
kitchen on the left and a dining room on the and you are caught in the open flagging down
right plus a visitor’s toilet which was her target. lifts that won’t stop.”
Upstairs there were three bedrooms with “What do the other rooms have?”
wall to wall carpeting. There were built in
cupboards. There was a separate toilet then a He opened both bedrooms for her
bath and shower room with a tub. He showed inspection. One had two single bunk beds. The
her all the way to his master bedroom with its other had a double base and mattress plus
large queen base and mattress adorned with headboard, chest of drawers and a dressing
beddings that matched the curtains. table. He caught her in his arms on her egress

boomerang boomerang
by the door. His hands went below her back “Richmond don’t remove my brassiere
while hers went around his neck. _____.”
“I am not a harlot like those that patrol “Sorry I got carried away. I just wanted to
these streets,” she said. Their faces were almost feel their weight,” he had replied.
touching.
He felt their weight squeezing in his
“I didn’t say you are. How do you know hands. One hand was not enough because
about those?” she had large state assets both behind her and
in front of her chest.
“I know these streets at night are full of
ladies that will be sleeping during the day. They “Can we go downstairs before you start
wake up and search for customers at night like to undress me?” She had asked.
lone tigers searching for prey. They raid men
like a pack of lions surrounding a herd of She pulled his hands from her backsides
buffalo at night. Watch out!” were he had been kneading on flesh.
“Hey thanks for a word of advice.” “I only deal with the barren.”
“I am not holy either. I have made many He had closed the gap pressing his lips
mistakes when I thought I was in love,” she had across hers again. She returned each kiss with
said. her tongue for tongue, lip for lip and hug for
hug. Her arms encircled his neck like a lady of
She was still speaking when he closed virtue while his hands were around her waist if
the gap pressing her against the wall. He they were not interfering with her sitting, baby
pushed his hands under her tee shirt moving his feeding or walking apparatus. Minutes later
hands against her back. He pushed his hands they came up for air. He could feel the warmth
over her fat near the stomach coming up to of her embrace. Her legs were wedged against
squeeze some muscle that jutted out. The his. They met somewhere there downstairs
muscles were soft, yielding and cuddly like moving to set like concrete poured into
kittens he had caressed when he had been a moulds.
small boy paying them a service for keeping
the rats and mice away.
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“Let’s talk as civilised people downstairs. I

may end up being barren.”
“Whether upstairs or downstairs your

virtue is still intact.”
“I did rather go downstairs,” she had

replied pulling down her tee shirt under which
her black body top that covered her bosom
space had moved upwards. She made
adjustments.
They kissed again downstairs slowly

without hurrying. They exchanged stories. They
sat on the floor pouring over old school
photographs after she had inspected his
portraits and carvings.
“Can we have supper like now?” he had

invited.
“Sorry I telephoned home that I would

join them for supper by nineteen thirty hours. I
have to get home Richmond to my parents. It’s
nice to sit and chart with you however too
much can be misleading. We have raced too
much today. Thanks for the day. I am sorry to
disappoint you for supper. Maybe when I
introduce you we will have supper as a family.”
____________________________________

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gumi
nemana (14)

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____________________________________ overlooking Mutare Road just after Cresta

Oasis.
As soon as someone finished eating the

They had met for cheese burghers and workers appeared from the shadows to clean
mineral drinks in the city. They normally made it the tables picking up the used plates, spoons
a point to meet in the middle of the runway, at or what was for the rubbish bin. There was a
lunch having snacks before rushing off to their table for four. There were two of them half way
busy schedules. It made sense because he was through the meal when a lady brought her
working with a building colleague who was chicken and chips plus mineral drink to their
bringing state of the art houses on the market table. The other chairs and tables had started
in Mandara. These exclusive properties having intermittent vacancies.
required carpenters who could do the job well.
She wore loose fitting trousers, blouse
Richmond was supervising and and a jacket which matched the uniform of a
managing the team of other skilled carpenters private hospital. She looked well dressed,
and a civil engineer doing all the carpentry elegant and cultured. At a glance Richmond
work from fittings in the kitchens to every part could see the texture of the skin was that of a
of the housing units. In the evening he was too woman who stayed in the periphery of the city.
rushed up to head for the gallery and find time Those that tilled the land in the rural area but
for supper with her. Somewhere within his busy frequented the skin did not have this texture. It
schedule he always found time to stand in his was of an educated professional lady or
mother’s kitchen taking a plate and discussing daughter/wife of an upper class family.
with her and his father while enjoying a home
cooked meals. “Hello, I have been told about you. You
are more handsome than she explained. She
The place was crowded yet people was reserving you like royalty. Did you think I
were appearing on television complaining that would snatch him Ndanatsiwa?” she asked.
the state of the economy was not pleasant.
The tables and chairs were jammed with mostly The chin and cheeks moved. He realised
families after having spent the better part of in a flash that it was like déjà vu. He had seen
time in the city. It was an out of the city joint about forty of her photographs somewhere. Oh
yes, he remembered seeing her on
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Ndanatsiwa phone which he had called a “Richmond meant me Ndanatsiwa, not

think pad or a miniature TFT television because you. I am Lydia Shashe. I went to school with
of the 10-inch screen. Ndanatsiwa though we lived in different
communities. I was in Kambuzuma when she
She had extended a hand to Richmond. was in Glen View. We are still friends,” the
He was equally surprised. He did take the woman has said. “When she is with me it’s
offered hand. It was soft and yielding which always Richmond this and that. I guess with you
showed the difference between professional it’s all about me.”
ladies and those who worked hard or worse
those that stay in the rural areas. She had a firm “I will tell you what you must do
grip like a golfer hitting a stroke. Richmond, don’t listen to Lydia.”
The hand that shook his moved like the Ndanatsiwa had her hand in his by the
pedals of a Lance Armstrong, firm and hard. elbow squeezing. It was as a sign of possession.
She released the hand like a discus player Was he being tussled for between two
sending his discus away. The hands holding her charming ladies? He let his day dreams slide
food looked like they had been dipped in away. He woke himself from his reverie.
honey and milk for a week. They were soft and
tender with fake nails at the end. It looked like “I must marry both of you,” Richmond
they had shaken hands for two minutes. suggested.
Maybe his next date should be chosen by
shaking hands. “Now you got him talking on his most
favoured subject, women!” Ndanatsiwa stated.
“Lydia!” Ndanatsiwa had castigated. “He is going to use us as bargaining chips
“Did I ever say that much to you?” should war break out.”
“Thanks, and both of you are beautiful,” “What?” Lydia asked.

he had paid a compliment. “I wouldn’t know
whom to choose where I be asked to choose “It’s a long story. I will tell you of his roots
who is more beautiful of the two of you. You one day when I am very happy,” Ndanatsiwa
must be the Lydia she is always yearning for.” had said.
“You are happy,” Richmond suggested.

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“If you are this radiant and not happy, “She is a very talkative nurse,” added
then I don’t know the measure of happiness.” Ndanatsiwa.
“When I am happy I will tell you.” “The lawyer is recording all the details in
her legal brains,” Richmond said.
“Lydia, my date is a queer one.”
“Richtie, you are supposed to defend
Lydia was slightly shorter than me against her.”
Ndanatsiwa with a firmer body. Her backsides
and her bosom were noticeable. The top she “I didn’t know there was a war.”
wore made her bosom jut out. It was
fashionable yet in the religious and traditional “It’s undeclared,” suggested
dress circles, it was letting out too much private Ndanatsiwa. “Otherwise how are you guys?”
skin of the chest.
“Richmond there will be no sweet kisses
“Really?” He had replied. “I am called tonight,” Lydia had suggested with an elbow
Richmond Kangira. I deal with wood from a movement to her. “Judging by her looks you
pine tree cut down when ripe to a rafter. I take will be put on starvation diet.”
my dates into the forests to see huge Mopani
trees with Mopani worms. I allow the ladies to Ndanatsiwa eyes bulged out, huge and
climb up the Mopani trees or gum poles. My brown like small golf balls. They receded into
test for an eligible marriageable lady will be their eyelids like a crocodile that had missed its
how fast she climbs up to the top of a sixty intended victim laying in wait for the very next
metre high gum tree. I have buried a few one.
already.”
“Lydia!” Ndanatsiwa exclaimed. “Will
“I handle cases like your workers who fall you two remember we are in a public place?”
ill,” she had replied. “Do fall ill on my duty and
“Will you be hurrying to his flat?”
let me attend to such a handsome face.
whispered Lydia.
However, don’t ever commit company law
crime because you will meet Ndanatsiwa Ndanatsiwa held her chin and tried to
arguing with the authorities there.” force a smile off her face.

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“I and Richmond are not as corrupt as snacks with Lydia. Lydia was more talkative
you think,” was what she said. than Ndanatsiwa. He in turn was more talkative
than Ndanatsiwa yet he was less as talkative or
“To change your light winter wear for the provocative as Lydia.
cold,” Lydia finished. “He needs change that
passage bulb that keeps flicking on and off.” “She likes dealing with constitutions and
company law,” Lydia had accused her friend
“Why at his flat if I may ask? I can one afternoon. “Tell me Richmond. On a lazy
change in the ladies room here where there is Sunday morning what do you do to entertain?”
no flickering lamp.”
“I go to church regularly. I mostly miss the
“That is what happens in the Mills & Boon mid-week services due to commitments or
that I am reading.” being too far from my assembly.”
“I thought you had left those books for “Oh?” Lydia had smiled. She took her
the high school students with their crushed on snack. “I meant hobbies besides taking
stars in the school sports teams.” Ndanatsiwa out.”
“I only had a crush on Richmond before I “I like cricket as a sport which I play and
met him!” watch the professional “A”- class teams. I like
and play golf too especially with my old man
“Lydia” when he has no duties bothering him. We
normally go to Chapman’s, Warren Hills or
“Utter girl,” Richmond said. Her hands
Albatross Golf Courses. Besides I like to watch
were like a vice grip on his elbow. He could
and playing rugby alongside tennis. Besides
feel her warmth and the mint taste of her
that I like walking in the woods or in the park,”
breath was on his nose.
he had replied. “I jog early in the morning right
That was how he came to know Lydia round our blocks before taking the trendmill.”
Shashe who was more beautiful and more
“Where is Albatross Golf Course?” asked
composed than his own date. They
Ndanatsiwa.
exchanged news and contacts. Three of four
times a week Richmond and Ndanatsiwa had

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“It is next door to the Aspindale Fertiliser council concerning the roof after he had
plant in Mufakose.” addressed their misgivings.
“Oh that one? I never knew it had a He started for the city.
name.”
He checked his Lumia again. There was
____________________________________ an address, time and he was almost five
minutes late. He found himself before a grey
looking block of flats.
His phone rang. He was looking at a H e climbed to the fourth floor. By the
small scale model of a house to be time he knocked, it was thirty-eight minutes
constructed in Borrowdale Brooke. Someone after the initial suggested time. He heard
had consulted him over bread and butter footsteps. He was sweating. Why was it that
issues. sweat chose the small of the back to tickle
down?
“I will need to check the design in the
computer again to be sure,” he had replied to “Hi,” she was standing on the door,
the main contractor. He flushed his hand into
his pocket and took out the offending Nokia “Hello Lydia.”
Lumia. “Hello.”
He had greeted turning from where he
“Hi Richmond. It’s Lydia. I have texted had been observing other things on the block
you an address can you be there in thirty of flats seeing through things rather. His eyes
minutes?” ran over her. She stood on the doorway
without any shoes on. She wore a white cotton
“I am in a tight spot. Can I call you in dress with button details from the waist up. It
twenty minutes?” He had asked. was sleeveless with a U neck too. The bosom
line was cut at angles rounded in a semi circle.
“Okay,” she had said. It took him more The bosom seemed to have been lifted off
than an hour and a half to reach an from the entire body. The dress had not been
agreement with the civil engineers at the city made to match her behind. It seemed to have
stopped somewhere soon after her backsides.
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“Richmond won’t you come in. There are He went down the steps fast heading for
no lions inside.” his vehicle. She returned to the flat. She stood
by the wall and shook her hands. She went for
“I am rather tied up for the moment I her handbag.
almost forgot about your message.”
Her cell had been on silent. “Hello.”
“Richmond, what sort of a guy forgets a
date with a woman?” she had asked. “Maurice here I have been calling you.”
“I know I didn’t plan to meet Ndanatsiwa “Why don’t you call Maureen and maul
that is why I have scheduled others things to her instead of bothering me you rude offshoot
do. I have to meet a Caucasian in ____,” of the male lion clan?”
Richmond looked at his watch. “I will have to
be quick. I have less than fifteen minutes.” “Are we still crossing swords?” he had
asked.
“I thought we could discuss issues
between us, as in Ndanatsiwa, me and you,“ “She seems to be so good to moon all
she had replied. over you. Go to the bitch,” she had replied.
“Today I have issues. Another day “I thought we could talk like humans.
perhaps?” he asked. Last time when I took you to Lake Chivero, we
really fused together didn’t we?” he asked. “I
“What a disappointment.” told you are a spring chicken. I haven’t even
started yet. I will book us two rooms two nights
In her naked feet she saw him off coming in Mutare, heh. Hey, had those park rangers
down to the second floor. There she had had see us mating would they have fired their single
to pull the dress down so it could fit midway to bolt action rifles or handed us to the police? Or
her knees. would they have watched in amazement at
the spectacle of young bloods.”
“Lydia let me rush I may miss my
appointment. There is a lot of bacon in the “I am at the flat for a limited time. Let’s
tourist whom I have been tasked to meet over meet there in thirty minutes,” she had switched
dinner.” off the call.

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Half a loaf was much better than none. He sat in a tastefully decorated lounge
She was after anything to take the rude shock discussing soccer when Lydia emerged five
of her disappointment away. minutes later from somewhere within the maze
of rooms. She had a burgundy bath towel
What was wrong with the man who around her body leaving a good sight of her
hammered nails into planks? skin top and bottom. Her hair was bound up on
and around her head. She was surprised to see
Richmond.
____________________________________
“Lydia there is someone to see you.”
“Let me dress up Maurice. Hello

He was free a few days later when he Richmond. Maurice, Richmond is Ndanatsiwa
remembered the flat. He drove there. He went current date. Feel at home guys I will be out in
up the steps to the fourth floor. He had a thing a jiffy.”
for remembering addresses. His grandfather
had said he never lost direction to a tree he She never called him to the flat again.
wanted once he had picked up its sight and
scent. Did that inhibit him too? He pressed the
buzzer. The door opened, a man stood there ____________________________________
with no shirt on.
“Hi,” Richmond had said.

“We are live on radio this evening. We
“Hello,” the other had replied. “May I are talking about the arts which are an industry
assist?” to be reckoned with. Imagine if all the
Jamaican reggae artistes were paying taxes
“There is a woman called Lydia, best on their music sales including live shows and
friend of my date that lives here. May I see syndications/endorsements etc to their home
her?” he asked. “I am a bit pressed for time.” country. Then imagine all of them investing in
their homeland while living overseas. Imagine
“Oh, my girlfriend,” the other showed him the same here in Zimbabwe with our artistes be
in.

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they writers, actors, musicians or whatever respects we use Mutare Road when going
other profession doing the same. rural. Me, I turn east soon after Bromley.”
“Jamaica alone has a great GDP from “The two of you are both famous.”
musicians that were born on the island. I am
told one of the largest concentrations of visual “You tell me,” Richmond replied. “That is
artistes is in Paris. Imagine First Street, Harare another similarity we had not mentioned.”
being open outdoor studios of thousands of
painters. With me are two gentlemen whom I “I will start with Denford. Where does the
will ask not to say their last names until we settle skill to turn stone into figures which the
into the program. Good evening.” international community marvels at come
from?”
“Good evening Zimbabwe.”
“There is brute talent which is like a rough
“What is your first name?” diamond. Then there is persistence, blind
determination, sweat and hard work which
“My name is Denford.” bring out the polished stone. The skill is in born. I
am not the only sculptor who is raising dust for
“Good day Zimbabwe. I am called the country outside the borders. I want to
Richmond,” the other had replied. believe that sculptured images exist we only
chip the rough edges out like polishing of
“What similarities are there between the diamonds.”
two of you?” the radio presenter had asked.
“And your turn Richmond?”
“My rural home is in Mutasa District of
Manicaland province once past Rusape along “I don’t know where my craving skills
Nyanga Road,” Richmond had replied. “We come from but I just like to create things out of
are more of Manyika in terms of dialects than wood. Like he has said it’s hard and frustrating
others.” work. I am not sure if it’s more talent than
training. Whatever, there is need for broad
“My rural home is Goromonzi, just outside imagination, discipline and hard work. You
Marondera, about an hour’s drive from either would not believe the time some of us wake up
Marondera or the city of Harare. In both to dream of a creation. We put our dreams on
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pencil and relive them in our minds before dancing didn’t rub on me. I do dance
committing the curving axe to wood. Locally, extremely well but not for public performances.
people don’t appreciate our efforts while on I however shifted from his dancing to turning
the international market the up and down in stone into artefacts. I spent a lot of time with
prices is affecting most of us. Locally people my grandfather almost every school holiday
don’t pay top dollar. If you get lucky enough to yet I didn’t become a dancer by profession.”
be picked by the big millionaires out there in
the world, you will cry all the way to the bank “So the famous wood carver Kangira is
treasury.” related to you all as well as well as Mamhepo?
That is very interesting. I know from history that
“How are you two related?” Mamhepo won the Chibuku® road show
festival cultural dance competition several
“My father was born by a man called times in consecutive years. I know of Kickboxer
Mamhepo who is now late who had an elder 1 and 2. I have yet to see the reviews for the
brother called Kangira,” Denford was saying. kick dancer.”
“My grandfather Mamhepo had a reputation
for playing the African drum. He was a bass “Exactly. Our grandfathers were siblings.
and baritone singer. He could dance. He was a Chief Mapinga is not talked about much but
tall and lanky gentleman who was called a he was a half-brother to both Mamhepo and
kick dancer. He liked besides playing drums Kangira. He ran his chieftaincy while the other
and shakers to take his beer. He could dance two made waves outside the chieftaincy.”
whether drunk or sober at a rural festivals,
gatherings, weddings or field days. He could “None of your father’s generation is a
leap more than a metre above the metre high wood carver or stone sculptor” the radio host
drums. asked.
“I still have a framed portrait of him “There is none that we know of. Some of
doing this before some white gentlemen at a my distant cousins are into dancing and music
cultural exhibition in Gweru. When he was in a maybe following after their grandfather,”
good mood no man within the broader Denford had replied.
constituency of Goromonzi, Marondera rural or
peri urban or even Harare had the dancing “Denford you have been to France,
and drumming skills he had. I don’t know why Mexico, Canada and Europe with your
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sculpting business. Besides this sculpting, who is “The Datsun 1200 spent a lot of time
Denford?” chasing a girl who was doing Food Sciences in
Education at Belvedere Teachers College,”
“Denford Mamhepo is a father of two. Richmond had suggested. “She made the
He is married to a woman called Irene. I started mistake of cooking him a meal on his birthday.
off as an art student at Harare Polytechnic He pursued her like he was a copper
before fame found me. I struggle to know if I conductor and she was a bolt of lightning. I
should be teaching dance, being a know that because I played escort, chaperon,
chorographer for videos or wedding dance sentinel, little and beloved brother. She loved
routine tutor/chorographer, art tutor or doing me more than the boss whom I won’t mention.
sculpting.” She felt sorry for him and she married him
instead of me about ten years ago.”
“Currently how old are you?”
“That was supposed to be a secret,”
“Thirty-four,” complained Denford.
“Where were you educated Denford?” “It is no longer a secret I guess.
Richmond?” asked the radio presenter.
“I went to Goromonzi High School for four
years of secondary education. I did relief “I did ordinary level at Highfield High
teaching in the Chikwaka area for two years School in Highfield before moving to Prince
before joining the polytechnic for four years of Edwards for my advanced levels where I did
study. By the time I had graduated I already arts as a main subject besides English and
had a Datsun1200 sedan, royal blue in colour divinity. I belonged to a network of artists who
with big mug wheels because my artwork was met in Hatfield, Logan Park to be exact at a
paying dividends. I should also say that there large residential complex. There we made our
was a lot of peer misunderstanding about creations. Our potential buyers came and
college courses on offer. There was prejudice haggled. The owner of the property, an artist
against us art students. Most of us ended up as too, fine arts, made a commission. The chosen
art teachers especially in high schools in light career path at the local university would have
density suburbs. The students regarded the made me a man of the cloth,” Richmond said.
engineering department as macho. I can
employ several engineers now.” There was laughter.
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“And what else is there reverend or lay Diocese of Gweru under Mambo Press, Parade
pastor?” and the Sunday Mail magazine. He was the
one to read about his younger relative now.”
“The local artists were a mixed bunch of
wood carvers, painters, those who did “To the schooling part you were saying?”
crotchety which was a ladies domain and
stone sculptors including me,” Denford had “I had ordinary level passes in sciences
added. “I cut my teeth there as well. There are and mathematics. I joined Plate Glass Industries
several such communities here in Harare with as an apprentice carpenter which is my current
showcase of talent done at the National Art professional qualification, journeyman
Gallery.” carpenter. In Denford‘s experience of dancing
with his grandfather Mamhepo and my carving
“Richmond,” the radio host had asked. with grandfather Kangira, we both served an
“When did you start showcasing your work at apprenticeship which horned our crafts in
the National Art Gallery near Harare Gardens?” different forms. That way I stayed within my
vocation of woodcraft.”
“By the second year at high school I had
work being showcased there. My first overseas “With you Richmond, Kangira is a direct
sale happened when I was in the first form. “ descendant? “
“I guess we know who bought all the girls “Yes through my father Richard who is in
in one class ice cream?” suggested Denford. the agricultural field and at times appears on
television talking about livestock and their
“Yes and no. That was supposed to be a treatment.”
secret because some of the girls who used to
moon over me are married. I remember going “What a famous family. Richmond the
with dad to open a junior savings account with Zimbabweans listening to this evening program
Standard Chartered Bank, Karigamombe would like to know if you are married.”
Branch. I was self important and smart in my
uniform with my bankers draft in dad’s pocket. “Not yet. There have been a few
Dad kept explaining to the bank staff that I was disappointments but not yet.”
an artiste at my age. Then I appeared in
magazines like Moto run by the Catholic “What is your current age?”

boomerang boomerang
“I am almost twenty-nine years old.” have to stress that we have to create original
work.”
“Like Denford, have you graced the
international scene?” the radio host asked. “What type of stone do you use
generally in Zimbabwe for sculpting?”
“I have been to Italy, Turkey, Greece,
Israel, Saudi Arabia and Thailand to name a “We are blessed in that all the sculptures
few though I passed through numerous made and exported from Zimbabwe are made
countries on visa entries. I exhibited in India a from local stone. Soap stone is the easiest stone
little while ago. I passed through Singapore, to use. It is very brittle. It does not make the
Hong Kong and Sri Lanka on my way international grade. We use spring stone, fruit
elsewhere. I went up Mount Meru much closer serpentine, leopard rock from Nyanga, opal
to Mount Kilimanjaro. I didn’t reach the summit stone or Domboshawa opal and lepidolite.”
because we were pressed for time. Our group
did reach the Little Meru which is 3 820-metyres “Richmond what are your own words?”
in height.“
“Joram Mariga started as a wood
“What is the future like in sculpting and carver before moving to stone sculpture. We
carving? Are we going to see you making the do have many wood carvers in Zimbabwe. On
grade or maintaining the same grade as choice of material, we use wood that is
famous sculptures like Dominic Benhura to palatable. Hardwood has staying power yet it
name but a few of Zimbabwe’s best and can break a carver. We use wood like rose
quality exports?” the host asked. wood. There is ironwood too. This is a name
given to different types of African hardwood
“There are famous sculptors like Dominic
whose interior is yellow or white and the core is
Benhura, Nesbert Mukombneranwa, Joram
dark brown. Ebony and mahogany are known
Mariga the late, Edward Chiwawa and Norbert
well for their lustre. Ebony is a very expensive
Shamuyarira to name but some of the cream. I
don’t see any problem with maintaining the wood followed by mahogany rare and very
grace of making it to the international scene,” beautiful. We also use African Walnut,
Denford replied. “As long as we remain Olivewood or Lead Wood.
focused and hard working we will make it. I

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“We avoid freshly cut wood because If you need use materials use local durable
when it dries it can crack. After cutting the ones that can withstand the test of time. I don’t
wood must dry naturally which means unlike use soap stone because though it’s almost free
the era of my grandfather, I don’t keep piles of it’s very brittle but easy to work with.”
wood that is curing. I but that has already been
years at times in drying up. We can also used “Richmond?”
wood that has been glued together into one
massive forum that can create shapes that are “It’s a difficult industry but let’s persevere.
very large. The industry has seen mushrooming of artistes
and artistes colonies where they display their
“My grandfather reached the sky work. Try and display to the international
considering he was rural. I guess given the community the very best work ever. Artistes
chance we should maintain the glory. We have including those in the music industry or even
art teachers, exhibition masters, buyer’s guides writers face one major problem. We do not
and scouts and the international scene which have an insurance policy against eventualities.
were not available forty years ago. There was We lack a safety net in case of problems.
also the dividing line of race. Now there is no When you make the grade follow what your
more race there are country duty and import agents and guides tell you. Don’t sell cheap.
requirements that may work hard against us as Let your quality determine the price. When you
artistes. However if you are invited to a foreign get paid invest in your life because you never
country like I experienced in India, one should know what may happen. The Bible says
be able to do their artistry there.” Benjamin is a ravenous wolf who hunts during
the day and divides the spoils at night. Work
“Denford what is your word of advice to during your time but invest in the future.”
the young and upcoming artistes out there?”
“Richmond what are your highlights as a
“The main problem is that we have copy craftsman?”
cats that reproduce what the experts will have
done. If you copy other works by famous “I was in Italy during an exhibition when I
artistes, where will you be if the international saw one of my grandfather’s pieces in an
community calls you to come and display?” exhibition there. It was stunning. It was
Denford asked. “We are all different so let’s be wonderful to see about ten photographers
as original as possible. Let’s work at perfection. taking pictures from every angle. Who knows
boomerang boomerang
what value our products will have when we are “To the first question,” Richmond replied.
gone? The value of the piece was such that it “My grandfather horned my skill by giving
was under armoured glass. I wouldn’t afford it critical judgement. Two he introduced me to
yet it was displayed with his name and home some contacts in Rusape that I took
including the town of Rusape and Makoni advantage of though mostly I worked with
mentioned.” Denford and other carvers and sculptors here
in Harare. The Rusape sons of Kangira’s late
“And to both of you, what differences do contacts carried on their father’s work of
you notice between sculptures and wood exporting handicraft. They found contacts
crafting?” overseas for the export of basketry, weavings,
sculptures and carvings to name by a few
“Sculpting refers to working with stones including crotchety. I used my grandfather to
and other materials besides wood,” Denford the full.”
said. “Some even use steel or iron.”
“And now what major differences are
“Wood carvings are more likely to be there between you Richmond and your
kept indoors or on verandas than stone grandfather?”
sculptures. Wood carvings suffer weather
damages especially from rain, heat, cold and “Grandfather used hand held tools to do
especially changes in weather like the desert,” his work. It was hard and painful fraught with
Richmond had replied. mishap and the occasional bandaged hand,
shin or knee. He listened to and took advice
“Richmond, the question is for you. Your from the Europeans who formed his core
grandfather, Kangira was a famous wood customers. We must always be open to
carver right?” changes in technology. In my grandfather’s
day no one thought of boarding planks with
“That is very correct.”
glue or other adhesives to create very large
“One, did you ride on his fame to carvings. No they do. When I came on board, I
become what you are now?” asked the radio started using power tools, electric saws, electric
host. “The second part is what major grinders, electric sandpapering, and electric
differences or challenges did Kangira and you sand blasting if needed and so on. I do use
now face?” hand tools in the initial stages but now I have

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gone electric including scientific seasoning of under black administration exporting tobacco,
carving where we introduce the fine polish like beef, gold, coal, asbestos, chromites and
wood gloss finish.” associated metal groups to name but a few.
Why don’t we stop exporting them?” asked
“Richmond, some people would say Richmond.
being represented by a Caucasian or
someone the Rhodesian blacks called “Our balance of payment system would
Europeans is a sell out thing and tantamount to collapse,” added Denford.
exploitation. Can you not be represented by a
black agent? What is your comment on that?” “As to who represents who, why do we
asked the radio host. have a Caucasian family called the Blacks
representing the country in tennis? Had it been
“There is what is called black political Byron alone we could have said it was a fluke
talk. Unfortunately a learned Member of but three of them, Byron, Wayne and Cara.
Parliament within the House of Representatives Why don’t we cultivate our own black
misled himself and an agile committee by professional tennis players?” asked Richmond.
insinuating that they could represent us. Hubert “There have been misplaced statements by
Masvosva is a political party representative some people who want the commission better
who should continue to represent his than representing and sweating for the artistes
constituency of Goromonzi and not me as a with the results that artistes in the music industry
carver. I have my own way of dealing with my have found themselves stranded on foreign
customers without going through political shores by inept management.
channels.
“I will not fall for such a trick whatever
“I do not broadcast my problems in the politics is said behind my back. They can have
house of representative either neither do I want their thematic committees dressing down the
my dirty linen discussed there. As to exploitation British while driving Land Rover Discoveries and
by so called whites, why do you use their talking nonsense of the United States while
mannerisms and language in parliament of all driving Jeep Grand Cherokees. I am an artist
bodies? Why do judges still dress in wigs and not political blubber or praise mouth. I stick to
gowns if whites are racist exploiters? During the my core values of turning wood into an item an
war we said exports of resources mineral or art connoisseur will value.”
agricultural was exploitation. Now here we are
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“There is raw talent. Its either you have it marketing, another does the customs
or you don’t,” Denford said, “There is no clearance and yet another exposes your work
political correctness in the art industry. We in a foreign gallery. Why do we have local
went through a liberation war, yes, I respect business people who think they can represent
ethos of this war. However, as an artiste if all I us by covering every front while sitting in their
show are war memories even here in condos here in Harare?”
Zimbabwe people get tired and don’t buy. If I
work to remind people of the armed struggle I “In politics,” Denford suggested. “We
will have no income.” should leave the artistes out. I have heard the
same sentiments expressed. Do you want me
“Now, I cannot be a producer of a to sell my crafts to the Soviet Union where there
material, an agent for its export and a is no market?”
representative to the customer. I work on a
product, someone markets at a commission. A “Denford can you say a few greetings?”
freight agent handles the exports and my bank asked the radio host.
handles the transactions coming from overseas
including deducting all agents’ commission. It is “I would like to say hi to my wife
a fair deal. Stephanie including the brood of Matthew and
Prudence. Please prepare supper, we are
“We have a farmer in Mutoko. He grows famished. I am bringing Uncle Richie home for
tomatoes and leaf vegetables which he brings dinner. He eats a lot.”
to Mbare for export. Why doesn’t he sell them
at home for fear of exploitation? These are “And to you Richmond now that supper
bought by vendors who in turn create a profit. is promised?”
The baker does the same, why doesn’t he sell
“To a woman called Nyashadzashe and
to the whole nation getting rid of all the UD
her grey haired but still young humorous
delivery trucks?
husband called Richard who form the crux of
“Why do big companies offer rampage my parentage, I owe you. She keeps looking
sales to get rid of old assets? Is it not to reduce younger while his greying hair shows his
the costs of running these assets? That is the growing wisdom and experience with life. You
same thing with an artiste. You concentrate on only have to see him speaking at wedding
the product, someone else does the gatherings to enjoy his humour streak. Against
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custom, tradition and culture they raised me

up and supported me through my wandering.
To the gentry and ladies of the Kangira clan in
28th Street, Highfield near 89th Street, thanks for
the support. To Virginia Homani nee Kangira,
you got me confused early in my life, sister or
mother. Now I know you are a big bossy sister.
Thanks all the same.”
“This is radio live in the city of Harare. We

are being received everywhere throughout our
borders. Further to which our DSTv audio
channel is broadcasting as far as Bujumayi in
Zaire if that is the correct pronunciation. Then
we are being heard far, far in the north of north
east Nigeria in Kano. We have in the studio
Richmond Kangira a famous wood carver
combined with carpenter and his mate a
sculptor, Denford Mamhepo. These two are
very related indeed. I will take only eight calls
while music plays in the background.”
____________________________________

boomerang boomerang
gumi
nemashanu
(15)

boomerang boomerang
_______________________________ She had not heard what he was saying.

She had not been listening.
“In future interviews I am called

“I heard your radio interview,” she had Ndanatsiwa Katokwe. I am the first child of
said. “I was not interested in finding time for Judith and Ambrose though I do not use my
radio. I had a heavy workload added to other adopted father, Ambrose’s surname.”
pressures of life. However one of the assistants
at the office recorded it. I have it on compact “I was afraid of the legal
disc. I played it as I was going through my pile consequences,” he had replied to cheer her
of work. You only tread of issues coming to up. What was a lawyer without a good sense of
court you never read of legal minds sleeping at humour?
two in the morning in order to be sharp and at
court by eight in the same day.” “When a man does not mention a
woman’s name in a radio interview it means he
“So I do not need to tell you what has others out there. You have other women
transpired? I have the recording on compact shelved like library books to be used in different
disc too in my briefcase if I didn’t leave it in my areas of study.” She had said. “Who are they?”
vehicle. For someone without a legal mind, I
tend to forget. Had I been cross examined by a “No, not on the contrary,” he had
smart lady lawyer ion a camisole top I would replied. “I read that your legal firm is in hot
have stuttered and stammered like a 1970 soup. Don’t let that get to your head.”
diesel engine coming to life.”
“You said you are not searching
“You didn’t mention me by name,” she _______.”
had replied.
Hadn’t he talked about a legal firm in
“This was a national event. Remember hot soup? Weren’t lawyers the ones putting
you have not yet introduced me to your companies and individuals in hot soup? You
parents and vice versa. We haven’t reached only needed to get a summons to appear
that stage, yet.” before a magistrate dragged by a client with a
good lawyer to understand about soup
making.
boomerang boomerang
“Am I searching?” He had asked. __________________________________
She was not listening to the sweeteners

that he was throwing around.
He was at his home when there was a
“You want to be a roving bachelor?” knock. He went to open the door. Had he left
she asked. “You want to be a bachelor well the pedestrian gate near the road open? The
sought after by all the available, charming and lady who stood there had once been his date
eligible ladies? You want them all eating out of on and off. She had had a habit of just
your hand like doves and pigeons on leash? disappearing and coming back again to
You want women at your beck and call?” resume the same relationship with him. Luckily
she always found Richmond in between short
Maybe he should have her blood and sour relationships.
pressure and sugar level checked.
She was a lady whose looks would cause
“Listen,” he had said. “I will send you a a man to miss his step or his mouth to go dry or
card with directions to a function where I am remain ajar. She was physically a woman any
officiating. You are certainly in a bad mood man would approve as being an elegant
today. You are free to come.” pacesetter. The problem had been in mixing
her beauty, elegance, education,
“Okay,” she had replied. “It is true our background, family esteem, expectations, high
legal firm may be broken down. There are standing, reputation, charm, work and
issues I cannot discuss in public or private which personal commitments.
are sub judice. I very well may be out of a job.
For the past year I have withstood salary cuts “Hi Richie,” she had said.
and late salaries. I however feel sorry for the
junior personnel especially the ones with “What is it Mildred now?” he had asked.
families. Before I stop working I have to be
according to my moral ethics of giving a good Mildred was not as tall as Richmond was.
legal representation when asked to do. It is She was slender with a small bosom. How many
straining I tell you.” dances had they had so close together? He
remembered one wedding reception were
both of them had been wearing jean trousers
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and black t-shirts as if on cue. That had been in know where he was exactly each time? Was
Norton where they had ended up in a lodge she abusing state machinery? He had bought
before Lake Chivero for the night. They had his first bed sitter in the Avenues before they
been pronounced as an eligible couple. Things broke up.
had not worked out. Mildred took her heart
and mixed it with her work commitments. Who When she had resurfaced he was near
knows maybe she was a heartbreaker Baines Avenue in a different locale and she
everywhere she took her work. Maybe he had knew exactly where he was including the flat.
been just one lonely cowboy waiting for the The flat was not mentioned in the telephone
city girl to roost when she was dancing in the directory though it had a landline. He had
bright lights. since sold both bedsitters to buy this more
affluently one that could take a family that
“I was passing through when I decided required three bedrooms efficiently.
to drop by,” she had replied.
He moved into the interior of the flat into
“I don’t think it is kosher to drop by a the tastefully decorated and furnished lounge.
men’s abode at this time of the night,” The kitchen had both an electric four plate hob
Richmond checked his watch. “It’s a quarter and a two plate gas stove. The fridge was a
past eight in the evening.” double door 300-litre plus upright local variety.
He hardly cooked at home. The fridge
“I was visiting a relative nearby when I contained fruit, mineral drinks, milk and other
decided to check on you,” she had said. “Can preservatives. Tea he brewed walking up and
I come in for five minutes? I didn’t say I wanted down on the balcony pondering on the next
to sleep over with you. If I did I would have carpentry move or wood carving poise.
booked us a room at the Jameson Hotel which
is cosier than here.” There was the sound of an English soccer
match with two teams that emerged as
“I am not even tempted.” Leicester and Bolton battling for three points.
The home theatre system was carrying the
She always came with temptations sound in different stages as if he was in the
laced with excitement in order to raise his stadium observing a Mexican wave going
blood pressure. Somewhere somehow his around.
breathing was getting hotter. How did she
boomerang boomerang
“Get to the point Mildred,” Richmond of flesh on eyes row for sample. A hand
had taken a seat. unconsciously closed the gap in between her
legs moving the skirt down. The top was fine
There were two double settees and two except that there were two buttons down. A
single settees all of them in black leather trim. push up bra was not helping matters. Mildred
In the middle was a glass topped coffee table was tall but not as tall as Richmond. Her small
set. Looking across was a wall to wall unit in eyes looked even smaller with her eyelids
mukwa into which had been fitted a 29-inch trimmed and painted black. While Ndanatsiwa
colour television, decoder, DVD player, 5-CD had large rolling brown eyes swimming in their
changer audio set with radio and a home irises, Mildred’s were black.
theatre system whose speakers where
enshrined at different angles within the rooms. She was way slender when compared
to Ndanatsiwa. If she looked backwards in a
The passage from the entrance was standing position and put on jeans and jean
adorned with portraits starting with those of a jacket, anyone would be hard put to know if it
wood carver of repute, those of a man playing was a man or a woman. She however was very
drums, jumping over them or wearing attractive with a flat nose, medium white rows
traditional head gear while playing shakers in of teeth and brown to light olive complexion.
both hands and others. There was a wood
panelling that was a stand alone on which The colour of her hair was darkish brown
were hung a portrait of Nyashadzashe and matching the colour sprayed over her
Richard. It was so big a high school child need eyebrows. Someone had worked on her hair
be on tip toe to touch the top. because it still showed her curls. For almost four
years they had known in and out. She was
“How are you?” she had started. secretive about her life. He knew she was
unmarried and without a child. Her father was
She took a seat at right angles to him. His a top ranking government minister with clout.
flat was carpeted wall to wall excluding the
stairs that spiralled upwards like a pirate He didn’t reply to her perculiar question.
climbing plant hanging onto its host.
“Mildred, I have other things to do.”
The skirt was white, floral and flared.
Now it ran up to her legs leaving some chunks
boomerang boomerang
“There is a relative of mine who wants to island? They came as his entourage and some
go to the United Kingdom,” she started. “My remained.”
father and our family are on the sanctions list. I
can’t assist that way.” “And why should I do that?” he had
asked. “I sweated my way to be recognised by
“And where do I come in?” he asked. “I the UK government unlike some of you who
do not issue UK visas.” used political mileage.”
There were invitation cards, a few on his “If you arrange that, I promise to come
coffee table. She picked one up absent and give you what I have always reserved for
minded. She was looked at the design. At the you, my body,” she had said. “You and I made
back was a map showing where the invitee a mistake on careers. We should have been
was expected to go. She put the card down. married four or so years ago.”
She rubbed her hands. The skirt was a little way
up reminding him of those care free days. Why “Why don’t you include your sister when
hadn’t they become parents? the president’s entourage leaves for Europe
seeing that you are part of the presidential
“I heard in the news recently that there is press team?” Richmond had asked.
a cultural exposition to the United Kingdom
and you are included in it for six weeks,” she “I would lose all my privileges if there was
had replied. “It has the likes of your cousin a hint of a scandal,” she had replied.
Denford Mamhepo. There is a plethora of
carvers and sculptors from six countries show “Then I have to be the sacrificial lamb?”
casing their workmanships. The British promoters he had asked.
are calling it the African Experience,”
“Remember when I and you had the
“So?” he asked. same hotel floor in France and India during one
of your exhibits. I was so loyal. Maybe we
“My friend is willing to be attached as should have created a family. Then we walked
your assistant in order to gain entry into the naked from our ensuite bathroom to our beds
United Kingdom. You know these days they are which were side by side.”
strict on visas. You remember one DRC singer
being accused of importing singers onto the
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“Mildred,” he had risen. “I have things to “I will ring later darling Richtie____,” she
do without having unknown assistants that I had said in a swish of skirts.
don’t know about.”
She left the flat holding her handbag.
“Richmond,” she stated. “The economy There was the clip clop of her high heeled
here is falling. My sister’s company closed. Her shoes on the pavers heading for the perimeter
husband went to Mozambique. He has since wall and gate that was swung open. Maybe
married another woman there.” he should have locked the gate. The sound
getting lighter meant she was advancing away
He headed for the door. As he reached from them.
it, there was the sound of the doorbell. Mildred
was following behind him. He yanked the “No wonder you didn’t announce in your
French door open. radio interview that I existed. There is Mildred,”
Ndanatsiwa had said. “Why didn’t you mention
“Maybe we can work out another both of us then?”
business arrangement Richmond,” Mildred had
said. “It is not what you think,” he had replied.
“She is over dramatising to stab you.”
“No ways,” he looked up.
“Why should she when I only got to know
Ndanatsiwa stood by the door. She was of her today?” Ndanatsiwa had asked.
dressed in field green long sleeve dress coming
below her knees with a black light top which “Had you been a Russian, in your mood
was open. The V around her neck was in white today and a few days back, you would have
material. Mildred edged out looking died of Vodka abuse,” was all he said.
Ndanatsiwa in the eye.
“I worked late. I thought I could just say
“Oh you have company Richmond hi. I didn’t know I was disturbing you and pretty
darling I thought I was the only one.” miss charming,” she said. “You like them smaller
and slender than me.”
“Only one for what?” he had asked.

boomerang boomerang
“I am tired. I don’t want any arguments,” ladies wanted to find out who was top of your
Richmond had replied. “Are you coming in or dating list. She clearly stated that you were
you are staying out?” having bedroom games. She said she is your
latest flame.”
“No I did rather stay out and safe than in
and abused. I am not part of the barren!” “That is up to you Ndanatsiwa. You are
beyond redemption. There is a bit of inferiority
___________________________________ complex running around. Maybe you need
one of those ‘prophets’.”
Richmond still submitted an invitation to “Then invite the inferiority complex to
Ndanatsiwa’s office though she had rudely your party,” she had replied.
made a U-turn going out through his small
garden pathway to the road beyond. He had “And why not? Thanks for the greatest
not followed her out to settle matters. He had idea you have ever come up with.”
telephoned her to confirm.
He had replied putting the telephone
“No, I am not coming,” she had replied. down. There was a lot of organising and
telephone to be done between siblings for the
“This means a lot Ndanatsiwa. There is a weekend event. The whole week Ndanatsiwa
surprise,” he had replied. and he did not consult. His calls went
unanswered. His messages were not replied to
“Count me out,” she had replied. “Why either. On WhatsApp his messages did not
don’t you ask Mildred to come since you have double tick in blue. They remained double
two choices, not both of us?” ticked in black.
“You said you are not a saint. Would I be London was less than three weeks to
my age without having dated before?” he had come.
asked.
____________________________________
“You are double dating. I saw her when I
went down. She was in a Toyota Land Cruiser
V6 speaking on the telephone. Naturally we

boomerang boomerang
The anniversary to celebrate the aperture where there was a tent for the event.
wedding of Nyashadzashe and Richard The grounds appeared to have been
Kangira was held in Harare. The working landscaped recently. The house still smelt of
committee had taken the pains to locate the newness but not paint. There was a three car
event out of Highfield. The directions were to garage on top of which were rooms and a
take Enterprise Road as if heading for Mutoko balcony. Both Richard and his lady had not
or Murewa towards the north east. The expected the surprise of their wedding
directions explicitly advised the invitees to anniversary. They had been drawn in, in
watch out and not turn left (east) into Beaston different routes one at a time to meet just near
Road as this led into the Grange proper. The the gate. Upon reaching the tent, everyone
directions said the first turn left after Zuva sang to their union.
Petroleum filling station. Beaston Road is the first
right turn. “Dad,” Virginia Homani had asked into
the microphone. “We all expect you to say
It paid to understand left and right from something as you celebrate your wedding
early primary school otherwise one landed in anniversary.”
the wrong place. From Enterprise Road there
was a need to turn left into Salhouse Avenue “Oh you got the dates wrong though
before turning right into Douglas Clark that you are correct that I married.” Richard said
meandered to the left. The road changed when he took the microphone. “Nyashadzashe
names to Kambanji Lane then to Kambanji was the only lady teacher at Nyadire Teacher’s
Drive further on. The most confusing part was College to accept my proposal. I will end at
one could take Arnold Edmonds Drive further that in order to enjoy the anniversary. I meant I
up which led to led to Sugar Loaf Hill Drive in won’t talk about Nyadire. I met her when I was
the same direction that also led to Kambanji working as an agricultural demonstrator in her
Drive which was not connected to the earlier rural area of Mahusekwa. She was doing her
Kambanji Drive. Between the two were second or third year high school at a mission
swampy areas and a river that appeared after school. Marrying that beautiful woman was the
the rains. only correct thing you people talked about.
Would you like to know how many children we
To the left they turned into Yellowwood both have?
Lane into a house with a double storey

boomerang boomerang
“I will speak to you children as individuals him to Greendale before he came here.
including your spouses. Detention will not be Otherwise we had agreed on a family dinner.
ruled out. I had a dream that I told
Nyashadzashe about. Someone had bought “The family dinner had been interrupted
me a sea going yacht. We had it berthed in because the children said they wanted to
Lake Kariba. For family members new to revamp the house we have lived in for several
Zimbabwe, Lake Kariba is landlocked decades. We are being told to temporarily
somewhere between Zimbabwe and Zambia. move elsewhere so we thought dinner
Did I mention that the huge yacht had vehicle wouldn’t do well unless your mother had
type seats and air bags in case of a head on inspected the kitchen first. When we bought
collusion?” into the home ownership scheme in the late
1970s some people said we were stupid. Why
“Richard! Separate your dreams from buy a house when you can live in the rural
your jokes! I told you that you had been day areas? Then the war came. They never fired
dreaming. Your description of the yacht’s RPGs in Highfield neither did Hunter jet fighter
upper deck is as exact as the upstairs. I think bombers strafe it. I am glad this anniversary
you had taken too much tea that evening,” was not held in the rural areas. Who knows, we
Nyashadzashe replied. “He said he had been would have stumbled on war ordinance. Then
walking upstairs within the yacht.” we were considered the upper class. Ladies
and gentlemen, please enjoy yourselves.”
“It was set on 138-actres!”
The two moved around greeting visitors
“Richard! Thank you very much children. some of whom had come from different
You know your father and his sense of humour. quarters.
You usually surprise us be it birthdays or the
anniversary. I think it is hard to be a mother of “This is Uncle Thomas from Murewa,”
five children and face three surprises every Richard was introducing someone. “You
year. However much we prepare, we are remember him do you?”
always two steps behind but not for very long,”
Nyashadzashe had said. “It was a real surprise. I “Thomas?” the person screwed his face.
and your father always remember our
anniversary. It’s only that you cheated by “He is one of the sons of our
talking me to Marlborough first then here and grandfather’s younger and notorious brother
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Mamhepo. You remember the drum king of “Don’t shout,” Thomas had said. “Why
Goromonzi?” Richard had said. does Richard keep on trusting that boy he
picked from the streets?”
“He is a regular visitor to Highfield,”
Nyashadzashe had finished. “He normally “Which?”
comes once every while.”
“That one _____,” Thomas had said. He
“I am called Charles,” the other had pointed at Richmond who was running around.
greeted Thomas. “When I and you were
younger, we worked at the same company but “He is a wood carver like his grandfather
the name is not right. We didn’t call you Kangira. Further to which he is reminding me of
Thomas or Mamhepo. I and you used to dive someone. Maybe later I will have made the
into the many shebeens and beer halls in connection. He is the youngest of
Highfield or Mbare called Harari then. I quit Nyashadzashe’s brood,” replied Charles.
drinking seven years ago.” ”Come to think of it there is a carving right here
in the drive which is made on a tree that was
“Charles?” Thomas had asked. “I used to cut about two metres above the ground. That
drive lorries in those days before I was fired for should be his handiwork. We used to drink
drinking. I think I moved through about four together a lot. What was the name they called
companies in Harare. I like my beer so _____ you by?”
that was it. Where and when did we work
together?” “People from Murewa are normally
called Murewa which is a sub-name for the
“You were at Clan Transport in totem of the monkey or baboon.”
Southerton,” the other said.
“Not that,” Charles replied.
“That is about thirty years ago. I
remember being at Clan Transport,“ Thomas “Mhanduwe.”
had said.
“Yes that is it. They called you
“You were not known by your first name Mhanduwe then!”
or the Mamhepo name. You loved the ladies
then,” Charles had replied.
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“Every male from Murewa was called people from Goromonzi right down to Makoni,
Mhanduwe.” Rusape, Marondera and outside Harare. There
were three official photographers with two
“Thomas, you had a girl called brandishing cameras while another was
_________.” running a video. He was surprised to see
Mildred in the midst thereof.
“I can’t remember all the girls. I was
young and hot by then,” he had said. “This is Job chapter 1 verse 6 re-
enacted,” Richmond had suggested.
“It was soon after you were fired. There
was a pregnant woman who kept coming Mildred was looking smart in a two piece
looking for you for about four months. What I turquoise suit. She even had a hat on the side
remember most is that I met her time and time of her head like a middle aged Caucasian
again when I was going to Gwelo. She should woman at a funeral wake or wedding
have relatives there because I gave her a lift reception. To think that they had stood with her
twice.” butt against his midriff while the Mediterranean
wind blew over them on a yacht in better
“Really what is so particular about a days? Now they behaved like fencing cousins
pregnant woman? Was she your sister?” wary of each other.
____________________________________ “Hi,” she had said. “This is Maxine my
friend I talked about.”
Maxine was tall and slender with a bony

Richmond took time to talk to the
V shaped face. She had drooping eyes. She
gathered guests as did all people too. He was
might have done well as a basket ball player.
getting in and out of groups as the music,
She was slimmer than Mildred. Richmond still
dances, food and drinks flowed. Birthday,
remembered meeting her and Mildred many
funerals, anniversary and wedding gatherings
times. He couldn’t remember finer details
had a way of making people meet after
though. He remembered that she had once
lengthy periods of time. This had been planned
driven him from Mutare to Harare when he was
such that every member of the extended
still a young artisan.
family had to be represented. There were

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“How did you get here?” he had asked. the same guy! There is me, there is Maxine and
now there is you. He likes us in different sizes
“I drove in,” she had replied. She fished a and shades of colour. I wonder who is walking
card out of her hand bag. “You were careless him across the aisle. He was at my flat last night
about these at your flat." darling so be easy on him tonight. The batteries
are low on power.”
“I don’t remember giving you an invite,”
he had replied. ____________________________________
“Don’t worry. Maxine this is Richmond. I

am still trying to persuade him to put you on his
crew for the London exposition. Should he Nyashadzashe and Richard were taken
agree, you will have lesser problems than ever on a tour of the extensively built house. It had a
before. You will have to be his female escort for TV lounge that overlooked a green garden.
the three to six weeks he will be there. You The windows were wall to wall and wall to roof
don’t mind sharing a bath with him do you?” with a sliding door for the TV and main lounge.
There was a main lounge with a fireplace. The
“Mildred! This is a party for the seniors not dining room and main lounge were separated
to talk business which is irrelevant. I gave you, by an arch. There was a fitted kitchen with all
my answer.” the built-in-cupboards a couple would want.
“We will discuss even though it may For entertaining there was an electric 4-
mean I or Maxine or both of us count the nails plate hob and a 2-plate gas hob. There was a
on the ceiling,” Mildred said. Just then built in electric oven and a built in gas oven.
Ndanatsiwa came by hearing everything. “I The dishwasher was hidden in wood panelling.
saw this woman somewhere didn’t I?” There was a large 575-litre four door fridge
freezer fitted into the kitchen panelling. It was
“Hi I am called Ndanatsiwa. I am humming. From within, drinks were being taken
Richmond’s date. We met in Montagu Avenue out.
near Fourth Street.”
There was a walk in pantry. There was
“Hello I am Mildred. We talked in the car a passage into which one could access the
park didn’t we? That makes three of us dating guest toilet nearby. Further on was a door
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which upon opening revealed three appointed Outside the main house was a system
bedrooms. On one side was a room with for water reticulation including two 7500-litre
exercise equipment including a treadmill. Two tanks, booster pump with a submersible pump
of the bedrooms had built in wardrobes which in a borehole somewhere. There was a room
ran from one side of the wall to another. The besides the three car garage which housed a
windows were bay wide. 4.5-KVa generator for supplementary power
when the national grid went into abeyance.
Every bedroom excluding the ensuite On top of the upstairs roof were panel of solar
ones which had air conditioning were fitted systems feeding into a cupboard were two
with ceiling fans including the TV lounge and batteries stored power which could be
dining room. The main lounge had air inverted to use for apparatus that had no
conditioning units. The two bedrooms shared a heating qualities.
bath/shower room with a tab and separate
toilet. There was an office within the ground “Gather around, gather around,” the
floor bedrooms wing that had a view of the microphone had sounded. The master of
garden outside. The other bedroom had a walk ceremonies called people in. They gathered
in wardrobe, toilet, shower and tab. around the tent.
Stairs before the bedrooms passage led “Ladies and gentlemen,” someone that
up where there was an upstairs lounge had taken the microphone from the master of
overlooking the garden below. It had a large ceremonies had said. “I am a military chaplain
balcony to sample the views around the house by profession. I am a trained soldier. I am a
from a different angle to the lounge. It had a minister of the word of God with a local
kitchenette with a 2-plate electric hob and a church. Added to it all I am the son of Richard
fitted 150-litre fridge plus fitted cupboards. Kangira’s sister, Fatima and Hubert from
There was a guest toilet upstairs. There were Rusape. My history is that the Kangira brood
two large bedrooms all with ensuite facilities including Virginia Homani nee Kangira, Miriam,
that were standard walk inn wardrobes, toilet Takudzwanashe, Takunda and Richmond all
and shower-tub. There was access to private passed through our place when going to or
balconies from the two bedrooms but here from Mutasa. When going to Mutasa the boys
both occupants could not see each other. Takunda and Richmond would be wearing
their neat casual trousers and bow ties. When

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coming from Mutasa they looked like they had “Richard and Nyashadzashe gave birth
been carrying live donkeys. They required to five children, two boys and a set of three
decontamination through a series of showers lovely girls all married now. I mean the girls and
and change of clothes.” Takunda are married. I am yet to hold
interviews for the post of Richmond’s wife.
“You didn’t like them partaking of food, Those interested can drop their curriculum vitas
did you?” asked someone. with me. Do state your marital and maternity
experience, will you? These children were very
“I am going to explain all that. I am naughty. I don’t know why the girls leap frog
called Reverend Clifford for the day. I am here the boys. Richmond tails at the end followed
not to talk about the Kangira family passing further up in years by Takunda Richard then
though our home and looting our food stocks Takudzwanashe, Miriam and Virginia in that
every now and then ______,” order. Besides taking my grapes, oranges and
mangoes when they came to Rusape, they
He stopped for a while for laughter to
teamed up with a well known and rising wood
subside.
carver called um what’s your name uncle’s
“I liked them and I still do, why, I don’t son? Oh, one called um ______.”
know. I have to forgive them for eating too
“Richard junior?”
much in our house or shop because I teach
soldiers to forgive. How else can they forgive if I
“Richard Takunda junior is a medical
didn’t forgive having my apples and bananas
eaten by Takunda and Richmond? Some I practitioner not a wood carver. He can’t hold
gave free willing I know because I only had to a chisel. He knows a surgical razor or
take a look at those starving boys and I had no stethoscope!”
option. You raised them good boys didn’t you
uncle? Okay, ah, Richard and Nyashadzashe “Richmond then. They teamed up and
have celebrated more years of marriage than worked over the years to make this anniversary
my years of birth today. Their marriage is older what it is. Richard and Nyashadzashe, the
than Virginia which means you can now upstairs you toured, the bedrooms up there
calculate her own age but not mine. Allow me
with the lounge, kitchenette, balcony, walk in
to break custom and call my uncle and aunt
by their first names. wardrobes, ensuite toilet, tub and shower,
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massive three car garage downstairs, the and tumble dryer for all your washing
decoders, the fitted kitchen, pantry, living requirements.
room, TV lounge and the massive bedrooms
“Uncle Richard have you checked the
downstairs are all yours! The house is the golf bag full of golf clubs in the garage? If you
pinnacle of your anniversary not the party. You no longer like golf, why not try the four state of
no longer reside in Highfield but in Kambanji! the art fishing rods/tackle plus the yearly
Surprise __________________! subscription paid on your behalf at Cleveland
Dam? Oh I talked about golf. Someone paid
“All the three lounges, kitchen, two main the whole year’s subscription at Chapman’s.
bedrooms are fully furnished so you only have Don’t worry the wood carvings and sculptures
to carry whatever memories you need from are coming in including the medical
Highfield to here. Richard did you notice the stethoscopes too!”
yard? There are no fruit trees or herbs yet. The
garage storeroom did you notice Richard?
Uncle Richard, did you see the mechanical ____________________________________
devices therein waiting for you. Aunt
Nyashadzashe, you are banished to the
kitchen, dining room and the interior to make “How can a perfect stranger picked
changes and soft furnishings. from the streets be part of a scheme of buying
these a house?” Thomas had asked. “Why do
“Auntie Nyashadzashe, you love great
some people have all the blessings why we
and big washing days don’t you? Here you
have none?’
have in the kitchen dish washing and drying
machines. You don’t soap dishes with your “Why not if they saved his life,” Charles
lovely hands that once changed my nappies. had replied,
Things have gone mechanical. So all the plates
are going into the machine all you do is feed “Even though he is not part of the
them, pull them out put them in the drier and family,” Thomas had replied.
store them. You like to wash rubbing your
hands? No, No, no, there is a washing machine “Uncle Thomas,” Virginia said. “If you had
too much to drink why don’t you get a vehicle

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and go home. You are delving into the wrong “That is the truth,” Thomas had said
area. Whenever you came to Highfield you increasing his volume now. “You are not a
had a problem with Richmond. Is he your age Kangira full stop. You were picked up from a
to tussle with?” dust bin in Highfield. That is where you belong.”
“Richmond is not a Kangira that is that,” “Someone please see Uncle Thomas
Thomas said. “Why do I get hated for telling the home before he messes the party. He is drunk,”
truth? When we appease the spirits they say someone suggested. “Make sure the vehicle
so.” doors are locked. He will be dropped at his son
in law’s place in Dzivaresekwa. Make sure he
“Whose spirits are these? Are they those has access to a toilet but lock all the outside
in a bottle that make you drunk and open that screens until he is sober.”
channel of that thing you call a mouth?”
someone asked. “Or are they the spirits that “Wait a minute Thomas,” Charles came
make people remember your surname?” up. “You were at Clan in Rhodesia then
______________.”
Everyone nearby had now looked at
them. “What has it got to do with it all?” asked
Thomas. “Will you shut up about Clan Transport
“We know that,” Richmond came to the thirty or less years ago? Are you part of the
group. “You made that known to me when I family anyway? Are you a Kangira, Mamhepo,
was very young. I was hardly five when you Mapeto or Mapinga?”
told me I would never be part of the estate.
Now tell me Uncle Thomas William Mamhepo, “Neither. I am called Charles Maputi. I
what do I need from Nyashadzashe and am the first born of your uncle Kangira’s late
Richard’s estate? What need I wait for their brother-in-law Amos Maputi. My father was
death to gain when all I need is what they more like a brother to your grandmothers
raised me with? I had a grandfather who knew Ndanatsiwa and Shashe. Or perhaps because
how to plan for his children. The children in term you liked your drink more than your
learnt the same so why should I wait upon their relationships like grandfather Mamhepo liked
death for benefits?” his beer and women you don’t care, do you?”
“Get out!”
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“I get out on your command when the Highfield. You were so interested in women
centre of focus is not you? Are you crazy and beer you didn’t realize you are the father
Thomas? Yeah you are. You left your brains in of Richmond Kangira! And here you are
Kambuzuma when you used to drink yourself to persecuting your own biological son! You are a
a standstill. Don’t push him out of the tent. I shame to the male fraternity.”
know about generational spirits. You have
them in tendem don’t you? There was one drunkard that went down
fortunately people steadied him.
“You like them working for you like a
turbo booster? You went about throwing your ____________________________________
seed like Mamhepo did. Let him hear this,”
Charles said. “You Richmond listen and keep
quiet when the elderly are tussling. When you
“My name is Harry,” the man who had
see two bull elephants or oxen fighting, get out
said so was not very tall nor was he very short.
of the way Richmond. Richmond, stay close to
She stood a few inches much higher than him.
the Bible and reject the regenerative spirit of
He weighed about seventy kilograms. He was a
breeding children you can’t look after like he
darker shade of brown in complexion. The area
and his father before him did.”
under his chin was a college of male hair going
Everyone was quite now. upwards stretching. The fact that his head was
covered in hair neatly cropped meant by the
“Thomas you were called Mhanduwe. I standards of his chin hair he was neither
heard another name that came like hardwood religious orthodox or of the apostolic sect
to the head for me. I had forgotten we also disposition that kept beards as if these were
called you mukoma William or Thomas and not rated on the way to Heaven. “You are
Mamhepo. You had a pregnant woman who Ndanatsiwa?”
came seeking you when you were fired. She
was called Gladys something. I remember you “Yes I stand accused,” she had replied.
and me waiting to meet her. I visited you
“I am your husband,” he had replied.
several times over the weekends. You
practically lived with her. The police later That in their culture meant Harry was
opened a docket for her when a baby boy married to her older sister which wasn’t
was picked up. She disappeared from
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practical since she was the first born. The other “I gave you directions to Glen View
fact was that he had married a way.“ He remembered. They chatted for a
maternal/paternal cousin of hers or a maternal while at the birthday bash where they had
aunt who was a cousin or real sister to her chanced to meet.
father.
___________________________________
“I am pleased to meet you,” she had
shaken a firm hand. “Why didn’t I know that I
had a man of the house a long time ago?”
“There is someone called Harry. He has a
“I am told you are a lawyer,” he had bushy beard. He is very handsome I tell you. He
replied. is predisposed to be of the apostolic sect. Wait
till he makes me his third wife. He is educated
“Yes,” she had replied. though. None of his wives will have more than
three children neither will he marry any that is
“I did a degree in food sciences. I work in nearly his first daughter’s age like his cronies
a canning factory,” he had replied. “There is are doing in the religious sects.“ Ndanatsiwa
someone called Pauline. Her mother and yours had said to Gladys. “He is a cool and calm
are cousins. I married Pauline.” guy.”
“That was before we met. Pauline was “You got a date?”
lucky. I know Pauline very well. She is slightly
older than me,” Ndanatsiwa had replied. “If I “Yes,” she had said.
am not mistaken she lives in Budiriro 4. She used
to be in Bulawayo all this while.” “Can I meet him?” she asked. “What
happened to Richmond?”
“Yes we live near CABS houses. We must
have met,” Harry said with excitement. “If he is free you will meet Harry.”
Ndanatsiwa had replied. “Richmond and I
“There is a time at night. We were didn’t exist well. We were like wine and milk.
coming from a wedding reception when I Besides Richmond is in a cultural thing for six
dropped her there.” weeks in the United Kingdom with either of two
girls he had been sleeping with called Mildred

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and Maxine. Maxine is a divorcee. She is much “You will phone the cell when I have
older than Riochmond. I wonder what he saw finished speaking,” she had said. “I have a
in her. Mildred on the other hand at times haunch they are here.”
appears as a reporter on the state run
television, presidential and parliamentary Ndanatsiwa stood up. “Thank you all for
affairs department.” coming from all over including from as far as
Ruwa for a free evening meal.”
Two months later.
There was laughter and handclaps.
“You are invited for dinner at my home if
you are free Saturday evening.” Gladys had “I wanted to find out who amongst us is
received an invite. revealing family secrets. I told one person only
that I was dating Harry. Harry is here. He is the
There was a family meeting over dinner. husband of Pauline my cousin. Even if I run out
There was Harry and his family, Ndanatsiwa two of dates, I don’t date married men neither do I
younger sisters and their husbands. There was date husbands of relatives. That is not kosher.
nothing to discuss but they had just covered That smacks of desperation. I posed as if I was
there to talk. dating Harry for the very reason of knowing
who is releasing family secrets. Yet someone
“Harry,” she had said pulling him aside. telephoned Harry and told him about an
“You said there was something you wanted to abortion almost fourteen years ago,” she had
say.” said.
“Someone telephoned me,” Harry There was silence. One cell rang. Gladys
started. “They told me everything from the answered in a hushed voice. Harry was at a
abortion to a boy called Stephen and lately corner holding his chin. He emerged from the
someone called Richmond.” corner speaking on the cell phone.
“Did they use a cell?” Ndanatsiwa “You can come out and explain what
asked. you told me,” he closed the conversation.
“Yes,” he had replied. “Gladys!” Judith was astonished. “You
whom I treated like a daughter?”
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____________________________________ There was the sound of a hand

connecting with flesh tissue and bone through
a slap that had spun her around.
Gladys went to a venue where there “You say that again and you are out in
were three males. One was a German the streets. My mother never exchanged men
national. Another was a South African of every two weeks like you do. I have stood up to
Afrikaner extraction whose size appeared like your hooker attitude long enough,” Fiona had
he had been military anchor in the South said.
African border conflict of 1966 – 1989 around
Namibia and into Angola. The last was a She was still speaking when she had the
Namibian national whose generation had sound of a vehicle starting. She remained there
survived the massacres of the Herero by the looking. She heard the sound drive away. She
German colonists. could see nothing in the night because her
tears were filled with tears that ran down.
There was herself and another woman.
All the males but one was Caucasian. It was “What did I do to deserve this?” she
less than a week after she and Ndanatsiwa wailed. “I get two daughters who chase after
had fallen out. She was just bored. She had men, one after the other. No grandchildren but
taken to too much drinking of late. Even Fiona just illicit love here and there. A son who is at
had commented that Gladys was on her way home sucking other men’s items? That is what
down. he is doing in the United Kingdom. He is too
weak to make a woman pregnant, but strong
“I going down? Where you holy yourself enough to carry another man on his back for
or your mother for instance?” she had asked. %$#@!&**(((.”
“How did you come about since your own
father was dead? How did you get those ____________________________________
instant yearly promotions mother? Why do
people say you were the bed mate of an
influential minister? Why do people at your
workplace say I am a splitting image of a senior Gladys was in a double storey house
transport and logistics manager?” surrounded by three thousand square metres
of garden in Wayhill Lane. They had beer,
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spirits, roast beef/pork and chicken. They went “What happened?” she had asked
splashing in the pool walking naked and someone downstairs when she had bathed.
unashamed because they had agreed on
that. Both women are young, vibrant, large “Where you not part of a group that
breasted and beautiful. The women were all hired the guest house?”
black. They played games teaming up in pool
volleyball, pool soccer and tug of war. “I don’t remember. I was drunk.”
When Gladys woke up, it was morning. “As long as you remember where home
She lay on a bed undressed. She didn’t know is because you have thirty minutes to pack and
where her clothes were. There were wine and leave. You did better get dressed too. We
beer bottles all around. There were residues of have males here anything could happen. That
a meal that had been eaten. She open cleavage and those rosy nipples need
remembered that she had serviced all the men cover. I can see through your clothes to the
as did her companion in between eating white g-string within. We have horny males
drinking and sinning. The first schedule had here too. Remember this is the age of digital
been upon arrival when all of them had been phones with cameras.”
in the nude in the lounge. ____________________________________
After they had all had their excitement
reduced they had started the games in
between which they had another service by
the pool in various stances. After that they had
finished in the bedroom. She didn’t know how
the three guys had divided themselves into
their two bedrooms but she knew she had
been used by two early in the morning.
But where were the three men and the

woman that spoke English with a lilting tongue?
Of course they had a bedroom on their own.

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gumi
nematanhatu
(16)

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___________________________________
Richmond Kangira was in New York

running his errands when he befriended a light
brown skinned lady. He could not tell if she was
a black person like him or a mixture of what
had been black and white. Maybe she could
be the product of the countless capsules on
the market that made women change their
black skin to look fair. Maybe she was using
lotions with the same effect. Maybe it was that
or what made their backsides to jut out like
F111 fighters producing jet exhaust.
He had lost his bearings and general

direction when she was kind enough to offer
him coffee and doughnuts while walking with
him three blocks to where he wanted to go.
Leaving his old country had been a long haul.
He had looked at reason. Preparing his
handicrafts from Zimbabwe was having
problems of customs, rail, freight and other
issues which meant by the time they reached
their intended destinations the Greek brothers
were fuming at the loss of profits.
From his exposure in London he had

started considering Paris as a venue. On
second thoughts the Greek brothers had
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insisted on New York where there was clout “What does it say?” he had asked.
and his customers could be available from the
millions there. “It is off the rocker,” was all she had
said.
“Demographics Richmond,” Darius had
replied. The smile was full and righteous to him.
Richmond had wondered why Darius “Tell me the truth. Was I very, very lost?“
was willing to lose revenue. However the two he had asked.
brothers were shifting focus to Johannesburg to
“Why do you worry about that?” she
represent another college of artistes as the
had asked. “Let’s walk through Central Park.
economy in Zimbabwe tumbled. So they would
It’s a short distance.”
have opted that he shift focus to South Africa
or he ship there his creations. “They say New York City is densely
populated,” Richmond had said. They stood
“Worry less be in no hurry even when
within Central Park. “Look at the three square
late because you are already late,” she was a
metres we stand on. There is no one there so
philosopher. “I will get us breakfast on the go. I
the population density isn’t correct.”
will show you South East 88th Street where you
want to go.” “People per square kilometre,”
He didn’t like his breakfast before seven “Right let’s look at the whole park and
in the morning. He didn’t like rich doughnuts count the people.”
too. Someone he had eaten like a marooned
sailor pulled out of the sea after some hours “You are funny.”
without food and drink though they hadn’t
wanted breakfast that early. She showed him points to note in
Central Park. They moved around cutting
“Thanks a lot,” he had said. “What is through its walking paths. He had asked for her
your birth star?” number but she had refused to give.
“Sagittarius.”
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She paid the bus driver and told him great. The teeth were in two rows like F-14 jet
where to drop her escort. fighters doing a fly past at a military parade. He
mouth opened as she spoke. The tongue went
“Same time same coffee shop sweeping before her teeth before retreating
tomorrow morning,” he had shouted to the like a chameleon taking its prey.
retreating figure. “Don’t forget neither should
you miss the time.” “I didn’t intend to come.”
She had turned to look at him before “No. You look ravishingly well dressed,”
she had waved. He had stood by the coffee he had examined her. She had a laptop bag
shop on the morrow waiting. It was fifteen slung over her two shoulders. “You look very
minutes later than the time agreed when she beautiful like a portrait in an art gallery
appeared. He had smiled. Her hair was made laughing at us as we gaze up at her.”
in braids with a cloth with the colours of the
USA flag wrapping them together. “Don’t patronise me,” she had replied.
“Let me pay.”
“Hi,” she had greeted him.
“I have an allowance,” he had insisted.
She was standing before a pillar “Yesterday’s coffee was very good.”
hugging it. Half her head was visible. The head
was tilted. She had probably spied him for “Thanks padre,” the shop assistant had
some minutes. He had been pacing up and replied.
down. For a minute he had been reading the
“I insist let me pay,” she had replied
news headline clips on newspapers for sale. He
which was what she did.
liked the smile that featured on her face.
The coffee shop served them coffee in
“Hello. I thought you were not going to
disposal cups. He took his with milk and a
come added to which you refused with your
burgher while she liked hers sweet and black
number.”
with soft hot cross buns. They sat on the same
He had been given a quick beefy hug. bench ironically all dressed in jean trousers.
There was warmness in the hug. The smile was Hers had more flesh in them tightly packed as if
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she first rubbed them with oil to fit in. It looked “I do manicure, pedicure you name the
like in buying she had selected a size below the ladies fashion. If you want your face cleaned
correct one. and nails looked after, it’s free on my shift,” she
had replied.
Maybe she selected the correct size but
overeating resulted in the jeans filling out. She “I would like my toe nails done but
had a black pull over her blue blouse while he when I wear knee length boots, no one will
had a khaki shirt and black leather jacket. It notice,” he had said.
had been raining. The temperatures had
plummeted. She had given him a set of numbers to
call or leave a message before they had
“Foul weather, eh?” he suggested. parted with a bear hug. She was soon lost in
the human traffic. They met for snacks here
“It will clear anytime before noon.” and there. He remembered having met her
when they went window shopping looking at
“You are a prophet?” he had asked.
displays.
“Yes,” she had replied. “I watched the
“Nice baby outfit,” he had suggested.
weather report on NBC, Fox TV and CNN
combined.” “Why are you interested in babies? Why
didn’t you notice the other things?” she asked.
“I was watching the French golf
challenge,” he had replied. “At one time we will be parents.”
“Where do you work?” she asked. “I am in the rat race. The speed is such
that I don’t find time for kids,” she had replied.
“I am an art student,” he had replied
“I make sure I prevent them at all cost.”
thinking looking at a Redwood tree in the
distance without seeing it. If she asked for his “If I marry you I intend having about
name, one plaque somewhere had a three,” he had suggested.
’Harrison’. “And you?”

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“Who said we are marrying?” she had shoes that sounded like horse shoes on rocky
asked. “People here at times move together. ground she stood and kissed him mouth to
No children. When you go separate ways no mouth for about two minutes. She held his face
sharing of children either. There will be no on both sides with her palms leaving her
problems with visiting rights.” manicured fingers in the air as if they had fresh
polish or paint. He had one arm around her
“Can I come and live with you?” he waist the other was holding his sling bag.
had asked.
“Take care, till next time.”
“No,” she had replied. “The last time
that happened I needed visit a doctor several “Dream of an infant,” he had
times. I had to get a police report and a whispered. The last he heard was her laughter
restraining order.” raucous laughter.
“How old are you Claudia?” She invited him to take the train to New
Jersey one evening.
“How old do I look?” she asked.
“I have given you enough time to work
“Twenty-three?” he suggested. She out your own schedules,” she had said.
hooted with laughter. “Laughing is not an
answer.” They sat in a Chinese restaurant. The
eyes were round with black rises looking at him
“I am twenty-eight years old.” watching every crease on his face. Her legs
and his were mixed under the table. He didn’t
“Broiler,” he suggested.
know that rice cakes eaten with almost raw fish
“Spring chicken rather,” she replied. “I slices were that good.
have an engagement Richmond I would have
“I hear you.”
liked to continue walking and talking.”
“It’s great then. That is a few days to
She saw him to his station. They walked
make preparations. I will tell you what to wear
arm in arm. On the platform in her high heeled

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or what to bring, obviously a digital camera “Why would that be when you should
with lens and flashlight plus spare batteries.” celebrate Thanksgiving Holiday as families?”
“From there?” he questioned. “Differences as old as ten years still kept

in memories. There was a man who had moved
“Why does it need be a surprise if I tell out of his family life abandoning his wife and
you everything?” she had asked. daughter. Then he is staying with another chick
for some years. Uninvited he decides to come
“Do you live with parents?” he had
for a visit in the night. He finds his daughter at
asked.
his mother in law’s place but not the estranged
“No, we share a flat, three girls,” was all wife.
she had volunteered.
“Did he sign a contract that his wife
“And on thanksgiving holiday what do should not work looking after a daughter he
you do? I know you people like turkey and can’t maintain? Some bored drug taking
meeting as a family,” he had replied, woman tells him the truth that his wife is much
better off without him. He finds his wife in a
For a moment she remained silent. She closet with a neighbourhood youth. A fight
looked beautiful. Irises grew large then small. ensues. This is Thanksgiving Holiday within the
She looked at him and smiled. There was same locality less than a block away from were
sadness beyond. Why had he seared her with a seven police vehicles have pulled up to stop a
hot iron in the heart? fight. The youth gets a beating and calls for
reinforcements. He and his crew gang up on
“The last time we gathered as a family the man doing him body damage to the head,
some of us ended up in police cells after a shoulders, knees and backbone. How do you
family fight spilled into the streets,” she replied. go back to such a menagerie? I ended up
“It pitted males against males while the women coming back. I rarely go home on Thanksgiving
folk had their differences. Hand bags can be holiday or Christmas. Instead I get stoned
lethal weapons I tell you.” somewhere,” she replied.
“You drink?”
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“Is that a crime?” she asked. Her pulled her close and put his arm
around her waist. She had booked a double
“No, I have never seen you drunk,” he deck bus for them that started for the Big
had said. “That is why I said you should have Apples after eight in the evening. They
children in your youths to find comfort in these commented and pointed at places. The bus
trying times.” moved through the neon lit streets of the big
apple. It seemed like the city was waking up
“Not me I don’t have the time.”
instead of having more than seven hours of
He remembered that in South Africa night still available.
the whites there had a way of medically
The tour of New York at night was one
determining races by looking behind the ear.
of the most pleasant things any woman would
What would the apartheid authorities have
have done for him. He enjoyed the moments
done in a country where black and white
even went they went underground through
produced another race? The same race and
networks of tunnels with tunnel lights zipping
white/black would have genes working
backwards. They kept emerging further on.
wonders. He went behind her ear to determine
Though it was wonderful, she had been well
if she was black. He rubbed. Instead, she put
informed to advise him to put a jacket on. They
her head on his shoulder.
saw the major bridges including Brooklyn and
“You are a darling. I do drink do you?” Manhattan Bridge.
“I don’t but worry not about me.” They visited the Verrazano Narrows
Bridge, Queensboro Bridge, the Gorge
He took the dare finding his way to a Washington Bridge, Bow Bridge with its iron
seaside restaurant where they had supper. The structures and Williamsburg Bridge spanning
fish was great. It was well seasoned. He almost two kilometres and others besides. They
enjoyed the seafood. Why hadn’t he thought went through several tunnels including the
of these sumptuous meals before? While the Holland and the Lincoln tunnel. Times Square
vitamins, oil, minerals and starch were moving was lit up like a chess board at night. The
in his veins she took his hand. Empire State Building at night looked great but
eerie. They visited Broadway through 9th
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Avenue, Columbus Circle, going past where of what happened when a man was persistent
CNN was broadcast live. Then they went and determined to achieve their goals and
through Times Square and the last the Palisade ideals. They ended up in back in New Jersey
Parkway around eleven in the evening.
“If we create time,” she had said near He disembarked first from the bus. He
his ear. “One night we will go up the Empire picked her from the step putting her down
State building and observe New York from the gently.
deck.”
“Thanks for being a real man,” she had
“Yeah,” he had replied. “Let’s book a said.
river cruise to Niagara Falls and sleep over
there then come back.” He had a pie and a coffee while she
had hot cross buns and a milkshake. The
“We will see about that,” she had evening was on put the traffic comprised of
suggested. “If the schedules and time permit us people and vehicles was still there.
we will.”
“Let’s go to the train station. I think a
“With so many underground tunnels, no cab will do,” he had suggested.
wonder why someone came up with the story
of Beauty and the Beast, with the Beast living in “Okay,” she had risen.
the subterranean world,” Richmond had
She took a bus with him for about thirty
suggested.
minutes. They were in the outer skirts of the city.
“We didn’t even see the tunnels the They walked hand in hand through the lit
trains use neither did we see those that dump streets. Here and there was a siren call as one
excess rain water away into the rivers or the bored police detail and their partners checked
lake,” she had replied with her arm around his traffic rules. They walked hand in hand. She
neck. took him to a motel just a stone’s throw away
after a busy thoroughfare for the night.
They viewed the Rockefeller Centre.
They saw the Chrysler Building. It reminded him
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They signed the register. He followed cubicle. She turned away from him. She
her cue, she had signed as Spathodia complained that he was too hard and stiff.
LeGrange. He signed as Matthew LeGrange.
Who cared though they knew their faces were “Who cares we have the whole blessed
on CCTv in cases of crime and trouble. Their night,” he had replied. “Check out is 1000hrs.
rooms were accessible through a paved and Now tell me more about yourself and your
covered walk way. They had to look for the family.”
given room while the motel clerk returned to
“I have to be somewhere by 0900hrs I
the major league game he had been
am tired sweetheart, another time perhaps?”
watching.
If there was a bell boy, they saw no sign

____________________________________
or hide of him. They checked the lettering and
corresponding numbers as they walked. A
guard on patrol helped them decipher the
letterings. They had been going in the opposite “Your accent, are you Nigerian?” she
direction. had asked.
Theirs was a bedroom with ablution “No. I am from Africa though,” he had
facilities. There was a television, a telephone replied.
handset, a fridge and coffee making facilities.
By the time he had checked it out her clothes “It’s good to have a brother in terms of
were a pile in the passage. Her small bag was the same skin colour. I don’t like people who
thrown carelessly down shedding its contents trade races for love or marriage,” she had
including what she had worn on her head. She replied. They sat watching traffic going by.
had had an elaborate wig. She was in the
shower singing a song by Rihanna. “Is every relationship about marriage?”
he tempted her with a question.
He locked up for the night before
joining her in the shower. He opened the “Not exactly otherwise the divorce
rate in this state alone is making it unworthy to

boomerang boomerang
marry,” she had replied. “Why should people was like a man almost drowning being asked
marry when they can enjoy the benefits and to swim back.
freedom of being single and harming?”
Then he had discovered that the same
“The African-American race is resilient. promoter had other interests and was quite
The Native Americans and the Australian sound. Against his better judgement, to refresh
aborigine races plummeted when they met he had signed on for a year’s programme
the white settlers. We didn’t.” starting with being housed with a middle aged
couple here who had children aged ten to
“Good observation. Are you twenty-five for three months.
working?”
Now he was on his own.
“Yes, “he had replied.
“Claudia?”
He was enjoying the day though he
thought it wiser to keep his hands inside his She was tossing her hair tails all over her
pockets. It wasn’t that his crotch was breathing face. “Hmm?”
too hard but the wind was chilly. She had on a
sweater and a scarf. He didn’t have a scarf nor She wore tight three quarter shorts with
the gloves he had. He was still learning about a t shirt over it. She stood about almost six feet
the weather here. slightly shorter than him but with a weight of
about a hundred and fifty pounds.
“What type of work are you into?” she
had asked. “Hmmm.”
He had experienced working in a hotel “I have to be running. I have another

kitchen, as a bellboy, carting luggage and as a engagement.”
waiter’s assistant. He described what he had
“Okay Ritchie,” she walked him to his
done for four hours a day when he had left
station. “Tomorrow I will book us another cheap
boot camp. It always came back to the
motel. You don’t have to be all stressed up.”
promoters. He had checked the credentials of
one of them. He had come up with questions. It
boomerang boomerang
“Really?” They agreed on time and place. Six

thirty was okay with him. He woke up early
“I also have to go and hug the cleaning his apartment. He did a six block jog
catwalk. There is a modelling assignment before having a bath. He changed taking the
again,” she sounded to be complaining. underground train. He reached their breakfast
place. He started checking the headlines for
“Someone would sell their soul to be
different news since he was in time.
employed.”
They had a proper breakfast before
She hugged him once. She turned
she walked him down the streets. She had to
away. He disappeared in the rail carriages
go home and rest while he had errands to run.
while she was swallowed by the crowd. He was
He took a bus. Someone sat next to him. They
running a course in marketing thinking of using
were Caucasian.
podcasts to sell his creations. Added to all, he
was under a tight schedule. “The bitch you were talking to ______,”
he said.
“Ritchie, this is Claudia, I phoned while
you were out there talking to the fake brunette “I wouldn’t call a lady that,” he replied.
______,”she had sounded on the answering
machine. “I am sure I saw her somewhere,” he
had replied.
He had called her. “I am in Queens two
hundred kilometres away. I thought you were “Really?” he was sceptical. The city
available.” was very large. The big and beefy character
wrote an email address on a McDonald
“Where exactly, can I come?” he had wrapper and gave it to Richmond.
asked looking at the time.
“Contact me for details if I am correct.”
“Not tonight friend. Can we have
breakfast tomorrow morning? ” He saw her again. “How is the
catwalk?”

boomerang boomerang
“Oh you know the world we live in you be switched off or off the hook, and I will be
have to chase everything to survive. “Are you a sleeping like a toddler.”
preacher boy?”
“So you paint?” she asked.
“What is that and why?”
“It’s complicated, “he replied.
“I wanted to take you for a spin on the
Hudson River in a boat with other ladies and Her big bold brown eyes were
you did not patch up.” increasing in size. They could pop out anytime.
“If someone is a surgeon and they have “Do you want to paint me in my
an operation to be done at the same time as birthday suit before or after I have made you
needing to attend a wedding, what do you come?” she asked.
think their call of duty should be?” he asked.
“Claudia!” he rebuked. She had made
“They would save lives of course. Are the statement in public at full volume.
you a surgeon?” she asked.
“You missed out ____. I wanted to give
The girl was about a metre sixty-five with you the hard-core anus stuff.”
hips that appeared like an appendix to her
She handled his chin with an index finer
waist added to which her bosom was
that was smarting with rings.
squeezed outwards by the apertures called
brassiere that pushed the small to medium “I missed out on what ____?”
bosom out for view. The lady was attractive but
completely stupid. She would never have “You are so naïve,” she had replied.
understood a parable had Jesus Christ himself Don’t accuse people of being stupid if it can
talked to her. turn back against you.
“That is just an example. I am an artiste. “Tell me.”

When the muse is on, I wake up late at night
and begin doing my trade. By the time some
friend phones to say breakfast, my phone will
boomerang boomerang
“Were you a virgin?” she shrieked. The “You know where she works?”
chatter in the restaurant subsided for a
moment. Heads turned against them. “I know her number only. Why?”
“Do you need shout? I am not wearing “If you have an email address I would
hearing aids,” he had replied. send you something,” the man had replied. He
wished he had not tossed the McDonalds
She shrieked again with laughter. She wrapper in a trash can.
rose. “I will pay the bill preacher boy.”
“Really?”
“I am not a preacher boy. Are you high
on drugs?” “If you need information ________.”
She shrieked the more. The other pressed a card into his hands.
They reached the ground level. He was
“So you thought I was a virgin _____.” swallowed in the evening traffic. He went to his
apartment. It was funny that he had to ride a
He rose three minutes after her egress train for about forty-five minutes to get to a
checking that their bill had been paid. station on the outskirts of a city. From there he
took a bus that led him to his block of long term
“The lady, Claudia, did she settle the
rental apartments. He had a fitted kitchen
bill?” he had asked flashing his credit card.
which had a four plate gas hob. There was a
“She settled in cash,” the clerk had huge fitted refrigerator with almost four doors
replied. which could freeze food to below zero without
spoiling. The technology got rid of moisture
“Thanks,” he left the counter. when freezing keeping food for longer periods
of time.
“Are you related to your lady?”
someone asked. He took the elevator going There was a dishwasher hidden in wood
down. panelling. He liked his fully furnished bedroom
with an ensuite toilet and shower plus a walk in
“She is just a friend.” wardrobe and a nook for his studies. There was
boomerang boomerang
a place in his bedroom on the corner of two of prey. There was an eagle, falcon and a fish
walls with wall to wall glass where he had a eagle,
settee that watched the traffic far below or the
other concrete building of the city jungle The entrance hall to the lounge was
where he could think on his next project. adorned with portraits of his family and himself.
Besides which he had access to a balcony There was one of a man on a tractor leaning
from the main bedroom. downwards while two women on the ground
stood looking at the camera person. It was in
The television in the TV lounge was black and white but represented the old
hidden under wood panelling. When a switch carver and his two wives. The ladies still
was triggered, there was a whoosh and a appeared very beautiful while the man on the
whizz. The pressurized air pushed it out into full tractor with his hat on wearing overalls was
view in its full magnificence. The main lounge, very handsome. The lounge looked across at a
TV lounge and bedroom’s curtains were raised traffic junction below.
or closed by an electronic switch or from his
smart phone. The rooms were wall to wall The lounge was tastefully furnished with
carpets. There were extras in his bedroom like a lounge suite that could accommodate six
an Indian rug on one side and a Cashmere rug adults. Two of the single lounge seats were
on the other side. There was a guest toilet recliners. There was a Sony 4K Ultra HD TV 65-
somewhere downstairs. The other two inch screen smart television with internet and
bedrooms shared a balcony. Wi-Fi access. It was connected to a Philips
Fidelio home theatre system.
Each had its own ensuite facilities in
various designs including showers and array of Technology had become so good he
built in wardrobes. Tucked within a hallway was took a tripod, a camera and accessories to
a set of doors hiding from view the washing work. As he worked, he filmed himself. When
machine and tumble dryer. The woman who free he connected the television screen and
had done the interior décor had had camera non Wi-Fi checking what he had been
knowledge of African tastes. In the lounge done. Normally he would be standing
there were hanging paintings of African birds watching his own workings moving from side to
side taking mental notes on the next step. On
boomerang boomerang
one of the walls was hung a eight foot square He tried the first. It was a pornographic
fine art rug of a gentleman with white hair, a website in which Spathodia LeGrange was
goatee beard, legs outstretched right in the air featured. One of the websites stated that she
with two long drums and their two handlers had been estranged from her husband who
crouching as he jumped over them. In his was abusive. She had a daughter whom the
bedroom there was another wall mounted 35- parents were looking after who was aged
inch smart screen. There was cable access that around eight. She was about thirty-two years in
he subscribed to. age. It fitted the Thanksgiving story of a family
fight. She was standing, kneeling, on the bed
The windows were wall to wall or posing in various forms of nudity or partially
ground to ceiling with curtains that ran on rails. nudity.
There was privacy because by manufacture,
the windows did not allow much view from She even had her own site where she
across another building. There was a balcony entertained clients and sold her short films of
outside where he used to sit looking at the her trade. She had written that she specialized
world outside reflecting on his projects. In the in anal, oral or penetrative sex whatever the
main bedroom there were double doors client wanted. He closed the site going to
leading therein. When they were closed from YouTube to check on some videos.
the inside there was a couple with arms across
each other’s shoulders painted onto both There was a group that played
doors smiling into the camera. Both the man traditional music fusing with live instruments
and his charming, elderly but still pretty wife which had two of its male members from
were having their hair change colour to that of Goromonzi which had won a traditional dance
wisdom white or senior citizen grey. and music competition recently. They had
released a set of videos mostly of their live
He was curious to find out. He submitted performances. Kangira had been right but
his email address trusting to keep his telephone which one, thought Richmond wryly as three of
contacts strictly private. The man replied by the the male cortège jumped over the two sets of
same way giving him several website links. drums in all the videos.

boomerang boomerang
He entertained his guests in the “This is life preacher boy. I never said I
apartment when they wanted to talk to him wanted to marry you. You can’t afford my
privately without eyes popping out. His agents taste,” she had replied. “Think it over. If you
here were doing a great and grand job. He need a bed, holler, I may give you plus a booty
was having lunch with the rich and famous for free.”
who bought well. Most of his creations were
being offered on auctions. She telephoned him “And you are Spathodia not Claudia?”
a week after he lost contact. He had accused.
“Big boy where are you?” she had “Who cares? What is in a name
asked. “Aren’t you thinking of me?” anyway?” she asked.
“You are a porn artiste?” he accused. It is very unbecoming for a man to cut
off a lady while she was still speaking and
“You didn’t know?” she sounded like worse to switch off the only number she knew.
she was not moved by his discovery. He removed the simm card from his Samsung
S7 Edge handset replacing it with one she
“You sound as if it’s okay. Having two didn’t know. He went to the window in his
men bearing down on you seems like _______.” lounge opening the portal like windows. He
threw the simm card out far and away before
“That is why I asked if you were a
closing the window.
preacher boy. I do ladies hair, manicure,
pedicure or whatever beauty therapy they __________________________________
want. I have time to make big money by
appearing on porn sites. I make about a
thousand five hundred a week. So what’s the
big deal? You can screw for free. You can
come to my digs or I can come with my escorts
to yours. You get a free ride ______.”
“That is debauchery at its worst

_______.”
boomerang boomerang
gumi nenomwe
(17)

boomerang boomerang
___________________________________
She had been detained by the police

while awaiting trial as was standard. A lawyer
was allowed to see her for the period of pre-
court briefing allowed by the state. Her family
and a few friends also visited her. Her case had
been brought before the courts. The lawyer
argued that it had not been her intention that
the sex romp would be public pleasure. The
law did not limit sex between individual.
It only made appearance in such blue

movies a crime if the movie was seen other
than by its creators. The lawyer argued that she
did not know she was being film they argued.
Since she had been drinking her judgement
was skewed. The state wanted tangible proof
like title deeds but the learned lawyer had
contested.
“Your honour, armed criminals who

shoot at their intended victims get away with $
3 000-00 bail. The state wants her title deeds.
The state has lawyers who commit similar
crimes without camera but they want a
sacrificial goat.”

boomerang boomerang
“Objections you honour defence “I also have a say,” she had

counsel‘s statements border on reckless.” complained. “I have shares too.”
“Counsel, will you rephrase your “It was a joint venture of three siblings.
statement?” the magistrate had asked. You have been receiving the lion’s share on
your own. You spent much time romping with
“I mean they are sinners like the same your male cohorts there than applying the
round of sinners that wanted to condemn the investment laws properly. We did an audit. I
woman when Jesus intervened. These are the checked the rentals in Harare. That chic state
type of harsh statements ________.” of the art flat if rented empty without any
furniture, except the dishwasher, tumble dryer
“Objections.”
and fittings can fetch a reasonable amount
“Counsel, are you going to finish?” every month. It will give us revenue of two
basic teacher’s salaries. By the end of the year
Bail had been agreed at US $ 350-00. we will have a sizeable investment to share.”
She had surrendered her travel “Okay, go ahead and flush me down
documents. She had been ordered to visit the the toilet like everyone else. You are so holy
police station three times a week. The matter you didn’t have any list of British Caucasians
had been heard in a few more days and living with you one after the other? The last
deferred to six weeks from then. count I made you had made enough of those
live in boyfriends to create a football team.
Her elder sister had telephoned one of Those men of yours would provide a good hit
the days. team against an enemy garrison.”
“Peter and I agreed that the flat should “Hey sister, I asked you to come here.
be let out through Guest & Turner. You will You had the qualifications they wanted and
agree with me the amount of revenue we you refused. Who do you want to suffer? Life
were getting wasn’t anything to mention. So isn’t rosy here working 14-hour days and hardly
from now onwards, I and him will manage the resting. We need retirement insurance starting
flat through Guest & Turner Realtors, okay?” with the proper management of the flat. The
boomerang boomerang
furniture is being stripped bare and sold. You in had gained entry to the video recordings.
will get your share with the rest of us. None of The rest was history. It turned out that friends
my men had me in Sheol like you did having were best friends when kept at bay not living
your name all over the newspapers. Mother together. Besides, there was a lot of
says they are selling DVDs copies of you having competition when two attractive women who
group sex for a $1 each in every high density liked flaunting their sexual apparel lived
suburb there. Where have you ever seen mine together. They resisted each other like two
being sold?” male lions in the same tribe but of different
parentage. It was war at first sight. She had
Her employer had written a polite moved out in the middle of the night.
notice that she had been relieved of her
duties. It being a privately run popular hospital She was a waitress four months later
meant every patient coming in to be treated in when an Arab man called Abreeq took a
her department made it known they did not fancy of her. By that time she had dropped
want to be served by a porn artist. She would weight from about eighty-eight kilograms to
have to take her relief from normal duties to slightly around seventy-one. The fat had burnt
the labour court. Her case was an out to be replaced with muscle as exercise,
embarrassment to them. Teams of reporters walking long distances between work and
from the state media, the Herald, the living conditions took their toll. The good food
Chronicle, Kwayedza, Manica Post, H-Metro she used to be choosy about wasn’t free
and B-Metro had camped at the hospital, in flowing.
Kambuzuma and Harare Remand Prison.
“Hey how are the dishes?” he had held
On the first available weekend she had her hand for a minute longer.
crossed the border to South Africa without
travelling papers. She came to Cape Town to “You keep holding my hand and the
stay with a friend before finding security will throw you out,” she had replied.
accommodation elsewhere.
“I am Abreeq,” he had replied. “What is
That drunken spree when she woke up your name pretty face?”
late and naked had cost her. The first servants
boomerang boomerang
“You wouldn’t want to know my name standing near a white VW Golf Citi with mug
and its meaning. Research the widow black wheels. It looked like a splendid vehicle.
spider that is close to my name,” she had
replied. “Hi,” he had started.
“Oh those complicated Xhosa “Hello and how are you?”

names?” he had asked.
“How is the weather? In the morning it
“Thanks.” was raining and here I am feeling the heat,” he
had suggested.
She moved away from his hold to do
her duties. He had pushed something within her “Yeah it changes,” she had replied.
palm. By the end of day, she counted three
She was dressed in trousers and top
crisp R100 notes. This was what made her
which had the logo of the bar and grill. She
happy. This was what she had come here for.
had a light sweater and a cape fitted over her
With this she could see about getting head. Her hair had been made into braids
her academic and professional qualification so going backwards. Somewhere at the back, the
she could apply for the necessary permits. She cape opening had been fitted. The hair and
was as good as a war refugee in a foreign the cape stayed in place even when the cape
land. He kept talking to her here and then fell.
when he came to feast in the evenings mostly.
He took her hand in his enclosing
How did he know her duty roster? One day she
whatever was there.
was checking in around two in the afternoon
when someone whistled from a car park. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Parkers Bar & Grill lady!” He turned back. When she checked, it
was R400-00. She was leaving the restaurant
At that she had turned to see him
around ten thirty in the evening when a white
standing with three other men all wearing gear
BMW cruised past her and stopped. The driver
which was Arabic. He left the group tapping
indicated.
one of them on the shoulders. They were
boomerang boomerang
“Hi,” he said. and you name it. He started the vehicle. She
started walking away from the bus stop.
“Oh you,” she had replied.
She thought of removing her high heels
“I am called Abreeq. Can I take you and running to the nearest public shop open
home seeing this time is not very safe for me or which was an eatery less than forty metres
you on the dark streets?” he had asked. away. She became conscious that she had
changed into a white dress which was
He was wearing his Arabic garb
translucent at the edges with a short internal
complete with headgear.
petticoat that ran slightly mid-way from her
“Abreeq, I am not a bitch. Are you upper legs to her bosom leaving the rest for
offering money to buy my heart?” she asked. perusal.
“I never said you were. Care for a lift?” The upper part of her bust was in two
he inquired. straps that held the dress together. Her skin was
under the direct influence of the wind blowing.
“I did rather not,” she had crossed her She was wearing high heeled shoes which
hands over her chest. “I will wait for the kombis made her mini dress more vulnerable. He
rather. “ stopped a few metres away. She went into the
open cavity of the passenger seat without
She heard someone talking and looked further invitation. He gunned the vehicle
behind. There were two men coming towards towards his residence going through the
the bus stop. They had hats coming slightly outskirts of the city criss crossing from north of
below their eyes with hands in the pockets of north east to south west.
their jackets. Those hands could as well be
wrapped around bicycle chains or holding “Are you sure the characters at the bus
screw drivers. The hand could hit a car window stops were not with you?” she had asked. “You
screen with minimum damage to the owner. left them behind.”
Give them two minutes and the assets lost
would be a laptop, android phone, car audio “What characters?”

boomerang boomerang
“Two men wearing woollen hats on hands closer to her body. He yanked out her
their head,” bosom on one side letting the feeding
apparatus out.
“I didn’t see them,” he replied.
“We will crash at this rate,” she had
“Yeah, you didn’t see them,” was all replied.
she muttered under her breath. “And I was
stupid enough like a lamb to the slaughter to “Had we been in New York I would
take a ride with you ____. have been finished with you,” he had replied.
At a traffic light his hands reached “We are here,” she covered her
over grasping between her legs working their bosom. They approached a traffic light.
way up. She was a deaf mute. She kept her
legs closed. She had enough flesh to keep He garaged the vehicle locking up
them closed. His hands were without while she moved in trying the keys he had
description piercing like a parrying knife. He given her. From the carport there was a short
took her hand underneath his garb. He wanted passage which led left and right. To the left
her to feel and to stroke the stuffiness there. was a spacious lounge. She switched the light
on. They came to life flickering showing they
“The traffic light has changed,” she were energy saving devices. The house was
had informed. very impressive.
His eyes had been looking through the He found her standing in the lounge
traffic interchange. He shifted gears moving. her hands wrapped around her waist. She had
She shifted her legs away. He pulled her by the been checking for hidden cameras. He pulled
neck towards him. He pushed his hands within her towards the bedroom. By the time she got
her dress again. He drove slowly letting the to the king size bed, the dress had been
automatic gear shift decide. trampled on. Thirty minutes later she found
herself on the receiving end in the bathroom.
He reached over grasping her shoulder
strap. In one move he pulled it down. To “My, oh my, you are beautifully made,”
prevent her dress from tearing she moved her he had reasoned.
boomerang boomerang
“That is sexual desire talking. You don’t “Will you be driving me home?” she
need treat me like dirt. Do you have to pull me asked.
by the hair? Don’t I have the right like a lady to
be invited for sex? What if I just wanted a lift?” “Do you live alone?” he asked.
“I thought I was the customer here.” “I rent a room.”
“Do you take me for a bitch?” she “Phone whosoever and tell them you
asked. finished late. You can’t risk coming this hour,”
he had handed her his Nokia Lumia. “Don’t tell
“Sorry but you are still attractive when them my name or this place. I can’t risk coming
very angry. You have a very short temper. That to your room. The boys in the hood would
is very dangerous here especially if you are a remove my wheels and engine.”
foreigner.”
She did.
“With all your papers you might as well
be found under your own bush with your throat “What does your name Abreeq
cut especially if I am a foreigner.” mean?”
They had another bath. He soaped “Handsome warrior,” he had replied.

and shampooed her to make amends for her “Coming here is by appointment.”
complaints. She sat in the lounge wrapped in a
“I never said I would come on my
white bath towel covering from slightly mid-
own,” she had replied.
way of her medium large bosom to her half of
her upper knees. He kept watching her when “Do you have children?”
she was not looking. He acknowledged that
among the African class, she was a breed “No. I don’t but I will in future.”
apart. He watched cricket round up. He had
shown her the kitchen. They had already “Neither do I.”
eaten. There had fruit and ice cream apiece.
“I will, sometime much later.”

boomerang boomerang
“Not with me. I don’t like inter-racially

mixed children,” he had replied. “I have had ____________________________________
enough trouble with the works of whites and
blacks mixing in the Cape Flats. They created a
race that can shoot me in the face for not
Abreeq was kind and affectionate
giving them money for a cigarette.”
picking her up every three times a week taking
“Hoodlums have no race. So you don’t her to his residence for consultations. He kept
kiss black girls because you hate Africans?” she pushing crisp rand notes into her bodice before
asked. “But I take it you like ebony bodies and after they met. Over a period of almost six
though.” weeks she slept over almost twice per week
because he released her when it was too late
“Your mouth is meant for other things to risk driving.
whether you are white, coloured or Asian,” he
had replied. “I don’t like kissing.” She liked dipping her body into his
marble bath and walking the entire length of
“So you think you can buy sex with your the ensuite facilities within his main bedroom.
small and miserable rand notes?” she asked. There was a small fitted kitchenette, a small
lounge with bay windows looking out at a golf
“No but I think we have a date.” course, a walk in wardrobe with so many shoes
she wondered at their value. The marble bath,
For the night, she was with Abreeq,
oh, it was just lovely. He dotted and fed on her.
when he started going downhill, he was like a
wild horse escaping its captors. There was no “There is a group of workers going to
need to reason with him because he did not work in Kuwait,” he had stated one time while
hear. He was out to hurt, hurt, hurt and she was in her blankets feeling sleepy. She slept
discharge. His discharge was for her face with nothing on. He insisted she do that.
always. What did he call her when he was
through? “What sort of jobs?” she had asked.
Bitch! “You said you are a qualified nurse?”

boomerang boomerang
“Yes.” “I have no travelling papers, yet”
“You would have to undergo about a “That can be arranged,” he had risen
year’s training,” he had suggested. “Thereafter from the bed to smoke by the window. “Do
things would work well. You will have to abide you fancy going?”
by Middle East religious standards which are
very harsh. Casual sex can be punished by “Yes,” she had replied. ”Abreeq means
hanging.” glistening sword not handsome warrior.”
“Stoning,” she had replied. “Do you see “Ah you have no end for intelligence,”
me as being so stupid as to have sex with any he had said.
handsome Arab men?”
On the last night before she boarded
He appreciated she knew about Sharia the plane he said to her after he had had seen
Law. “Well that and you would have to cover her for an hour.
that large bosom and stop having three
“You will be called a bayieat hawaa.”
quarters of it out when you are walking in the
city. You will look funny with dark glasses and “What does that mean?”
only the glasses being visible in a burka.”
“Desert rose,” he had said. “You are so
“That was what drew you to me,” she beautiful. I cannot stay with you without
had replied. “That is what you like to suck on breaking every religious law. Besides that I will
remembering your mother. Of all you nude select my breeding cows from within my Arabic
girlfriends in painting, pin ups and photographs community.”
none has small breasts. None of them have
them covered in the photographs.” “Did I say I want to have a child,
particularly yours?”
That was being very observant, he
thought. What else had she observed? “You know what my people did to
captured blacks who became slaves?” he
“Kuwait?” asked.

boomerang boomerang
“You were more ruthless than the approached a Zulu who was the security
Rhodesian regime or the apartheid one. The manager.
American colonists were better. The owners
would pick Negro salves to mate with at will. “Zulu?”
They allowed the slaves to maintain families
“Yap.”
and increase population, but you,” she had
replied. “You castrated black slaves and “There is a customer who comes here
removed their tongues. They would never who looks like an Arab,” she had replied.
entice your daughters or women again. They
would learn the language but if they escaped “The one that talks to you a lot?” he
they could not teach or speak it.” had asked.
“Good, you are so intelligent.” That was why they had made him a
security manager.
“Yeah I was a professional back in my
country. I made one error after another. Here I “Yes that one. Do you have any CCTv
am working as a waitress with all sorts of men coverage of him?”
groping my behind when I move,” she had
summed up. “Why?”
“I didn’t grope. You like it when they “I just want a copy Zulu,” she had put a
grope?” R20 note into his hands. He had considered
before making her a copy. The man came
“Would I complain if I did?” again sitting with his mates over a meal. Zulu
whispered an instruction to one waiter. She
served them. When she was clearing the
____________________________________ dishes, Zulu made a sign. He remained with the
dishes while she ran an errand he had
presented for her. Zulu picked up for wine
She was at work running her chores glasses carefully stashing them in a small
when she thought of something. She container.
boomerang boomerang
On the morrow, Zulu visited his favourite being illegal immigrants. By having non-status
police constabulary with the box. at times they were treated like wild animals. On
arrival there was a grey haired Arabic man she
“Ephraim what is this?” one of the took to be about fifty-eight who tried holding
police officers had asked. her by the waist. He kept figuring his crotch
scratching it. The tight grey pyjamas had a
“There is a man throwing cash to the
bulge on them. The other seven ladies
girls at work. Just check out his fingerprints and
complained about his behaviour.
see what you get,” Ephraim had replied.
“He is what do you call it?” the driver
“Yeah there are terrorism security alerts
had tried for an English word. “He has lost his
all over Europe. Who knows these people may
marbles.”
plan what they did in Kenyan here,” the police
detail had replied. “Why did you bring him here?”
someone had asked.
Abreeq had taken her after an all-night
session to where some men were making travel “He saved the life of my boss so my
documents. He had paid for everything. She boss is indebted,” the driver had replied. “The
had a new name and new looks complete vehicle will have to travel with windows
with a burka. She would have the last laugh on blacked out. You are illegal, you understand,
the rough circumstances she had been riding yes?”
through.
“Okay,” they had said.
____________________________________ The old man had tried touching her.

She had shoved him away. By the time the
vehicle ferrying them had criss-crossed the city,
he was sitting ogling her and another African
They were tired. Every joint in their body
woman. They moved from near Sharjah
was aching. They were hungry and thirsty from
International Airport heading away from The
waiting in a dusty arena with no windows and
no air conditioning. That was the problem with
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Palm Delta with the Camel Race Course to basement. Wherever there was a cul de sac
their right. with the top fenced off. Either ends had
guards. The outside perimeter had guards with
There was security presence at their what she hated the most, brutal dogs that
arrival. They had been shown to their bayed for blood.
dormitories. The rules had been read.
“Haris get hold of that bayieat hawaa,”
“You are here, all fifteen of you from the leader of the pack had said.
three different flights as sex slaves. You do as
told or we kill,” one of the guards had said. “She isn’t getting anywhere,” one of
“Secondly you will note this is not Kuwait or the guards had replied.
Saudi Arabia.”
One movement of the foot and the
A cold chill went through her spine. woman sprawled down. The guard walloped
Those bad dreams were manifesting now. She her with a long wooden pole he had once
swore that she would hunt Abreeq if she came then again. He took her by her Indian hair
out alive. She swore she would have him killed pulling her up and behind him.
whatever it took. If only she hadn’t been so
concerned with the rand notes he had been “Watch what happens if you try to
dishing out. If it took a gang to make love to escape,” the man had said. “I am called
her so be it as long as his head was on the Nawaf. Remember my name. I will come into
platter. your room for service that is a blessing. I am
short tempered. You delay. I will use the
“I will not be a sex slave,” one woman revolver.”
had started running away. “I came here to
work as a domestic servant.” Another guard took the woman
pushing her flowing dress up over her waist
They had watched her running where exposing her slenderness stripping her bare
she didn’t know. They had come through downstairs. She was about five foot and a half
mazes of rooms and stairs up and down she with a weight displacement of about fifty-two
didn’t know is she was in the third floor or the kilograms. He yanked her by her Asian flowing

boomerang boomerang
hair. He dug into his garments coming to sit “Who is the next one? Who wants to
astride her while she looked down. She closed volunteer herself to me while the rest watch?”
her eyes. There was a fiery slap that spun her.
No one responded to the old insane’s
“Nawaf said watch. All of you get your question. The first victim was picked up and
eyes open! I see you closing your eyes you will frog marched to their quarters. One by one
join her as a demonstration.” they were locked up. The fact that some of the
guards were being locked with the victims
For a man who had ‘lost’ his marbles within the rooms showed her what was first to
the old character was strong and sane now. come.
He came behind her pushing his hands against
her face so she could watch what was The guards were talking their fancy. By
happening. He pulled her back hard against early morning all of their batteries would be
his midriff pulling her hands hard. She felt her flat. She had the old ‘insane’ who was followed
backbone snapping. She sagged. He raised by a guard with a pole. It was either of the two,
her up. maybe both. He had used the pole once on a
slow woman. She didn’t know what had hit her
“You don’t watch I will break all your twice. She increased speed.
backbones,” he had threatened. “I will be
behind you.” The ‘insane’ pushed her into a room
and grinned. She heard the door lock set. The
She and her mates were forced to old man was already pulling off his clothes. He
watch. A spectacle was played. She could was bony, lean and strong though in his
hear the other women sobbing. The guard was birthday suit. She worried if he had a woman at
on top of the woman for about three minutes home. If he did, then the women were in deep
rising and falling like a man riding the waves. trouble because he was enlarged, huge and
thickening.
“Need I make myself clear?” Nawaf
asked. “Who wants to be next to get that “Undress!” he had commanded.
treatment?”
There was silence.

boomerang boomerang
She remained standing looking at him. and especially the hyenas that could break its
Her arms were crossed over her midriff. The head in one bite. In between consciousness,
insane one jumped once. She spun from the she felt her legs lifted to his shoulders. He sang
kick to the face landing on the bed. So in her ears in Arabic. He stood on the bed while
surprised was she that she hadn’t seen the she lay down at sixty degree angle to the
karate or kung fu style coming. She slid to the mattress her butt in the air.
floor seeing stars. She tried to get up but she
was dizzy. He had done all he had wanted with
her.
He stood over her.
Afterwards he pulled her to the bath
“Are you going to undress or ____,” he pushing her into the tub. Standing over her he
had not finished when she heard the sound of had urinated on her face. This was
a scream. There was the sound that degradation to the worst level. He was not yet
connected between the flesh and bone. Was it through. He forced her to bath while he
a kick or a slap that resounded in the passage? watched. He only bathed his under carriage.
The sobbing of the woman next door was For an old man,’ insane too’, he had a lot of
silenced. In its place it was replaced by a stamina when it came to women. He would
guard grunting. He was working his way while slap her across the face or hit her in the tummy
another was threatening to squash the because she continued to resist. He reminded
woman’s head with his bare boots. “Or would her of someone. She was too dazed and hurt
you like that so you can be welcomed by two to finger out whom.
at the same time all the night because of
being stubborn?” Whenever he needed pass out water
he pulled her to the tab and watered her face
There was the sound of a voice on a and hair. He seemed to have a problem with
speaker within the room saying something in his bowels because she kept being drugged
Arabic. When she came to, she was undressed. into the toilet for the same procedure
He was pulling her onto the bed muttering throughout the night.
something like a leopard or cheetah pulling its
prey up into a tree habitat away from the lions
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“Bayieat hawaa means prostitute,” he the door. Every activity was watched as long
had said. as the light was on.
He left early in the morning after he The guards had massive crotches
had passed water all over her hair and face. watching. However, the women were free for
He sat near her face in the middle of the room all. The guards liked the new arrivals. After
making her give him a blow job while he paying customers had started trickling in their
shouted in Arabic at the watching people. This guards looked at the women and called them
was the worst humiliation she had ever sunk to. infidels. They stopped at spitting at them. The
management at least had a conscience. Here
He saluted her before leaving the employees did not get fired, they could talk.
room. She lay there for an hour before she They got dumped in war torn Arab countries
pulled herself into the bath to wash. She didn’t with bodies riddled with bullets.
know when she had last prayed yet she did in
the bathroom. Her prayers were felt. Her body They took their pick. The profits
shook ads tears ran down her cheeks. She had belonged to the syndicate. They were sexual
a feeling there were two cameras in the main slaves of different races and nationalities. She
room and one in the bathroom. She needed to understood now how Abreeq made his money
figure out where exactly they were. The next after dumping each and every girl whose
time he would come for her and another naked torso was on display in his house. She
woman would be after almost a year. wondered where he had put hers. What did
these men using her body for their fulfilment
That was how she ended up in Dubai in call her?
a building with a razor wire fence, guards with
dogs, and burglar screens on windows with a Bitch!
room that had a few facilities but into which
different men came in and went out. When
they were on their way out, they stood in the ____________________________________
middle of the room and waved their hands at
a spot upon which the guard came to open

boomerang boomerang
Then she had someone called Aamir. He “Yes,” she had replied.
was slim, short and looked nineteen. He was
jumpy with eyes that looked around as if “Infidel?” She didn’t reply.
expecting to see Genghis Khan waiting for him.
“Get into the blankets.”
He stood by the wall after having been shown
into her room. She looked at him once before She had done that. He came in from the
she continued reading a book. She lay on the other side undressing from his customary garb.
bed dressed in western clothes. He came into the sheets putting his arms
around her. He was so small considering her
“What is your name?”
frame. She undressed. He was very kind. He
“April,” she had replied. sucked her tits throughout whatever he was
doing. If not her tits, he was kissing her mouth
“I am Aamir,” he had replied. pushing his tongue hard against her.
“Good,” she had replied. “Stroke it!”
A minute later he was still standing there. He seemed to have a problem in getting
Then he walked to her. excited but once excited, he did not let her
mouth or tits go. She felt her body betraying
“You stand up,” he had said though his her throughout the night. In the morning he
English was broken. She mended it and bade her farewell before leaving.
understood what it meant. She had been
treated for facial injuries recently after As was usual he was driven out of the
someone had stamped their foot on her jaw. compound in a closed vehicle with no
The guards had broken through. The customer windows to disorient him. He was dropped at
had been removed and blacklisted. Sharjah International Airport. He unlocked the
tent covering of the vehicle which he used.
She stood up. He walked around her Since he had started using it, no sane police
holding his hands behind him. officer had ever stopped him. He checked his
Rolls Royce which he chauffeured waiting for
“Good,” he had said. “African?”
boomerang boomerang
his master’s flight. He cleaned it until it was as “I know master. Neither did I fancy the
clean as can be. men with their turbans too.”
Very soon he was driving the limousine “Good.”

with his master and his visitors down the road to
their headquarters first. After an hour and a half The master rolled up his garb and sat on
the master called him to his office. He entered the smaller frame of the other man. They talked
going past the majestic desk to press a button. of the horse and camel races while the bigger
Behind it was a room. He entered the room man rose and fell against the smaller
stripping off his uniform. His master came in. chauffeur. Four minutes later the master had
concluded by a shout. He had now finished
“Long time Aamir, What did you do with the use of the little man’s anus.
when I was away?” he asked rubbing Aamir‘s
undercarriage. Aamir sucked stock until it was “If you saw other man in my absence
hard and ready. you are dead. If I get gonorrhoea, anal warts
or Chlamydia because of your use of that
“There was nothing much, sir.” peeping hole with other men I will castrate you.
I should have had you castrated.”
“You didn’t request the medium vehicle
Jaguar XJL Portfolio 3.0L Supercharged, the “No master, I am not a slave. Your wives
Mercedes Benz E220-D or the Range Rover. won’t ever get those sicknesses.”
Didn’t you go into the desert to see your tribe?”
was a question.
“No,” Aamir replied. He knew the boss

was well informed and had industrial
intelligence information relayed daily. “I was
having a sauna and a spar at a local joint
overnight.”
“If you took a fancy of the women I will

cut off your balls.”
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gumi
nemasere (18)

boomerang boomerang
___________________________________
“Sydney,” she had said.
“Yes Anushka,” Sydney had replied.
He was inside a tuck-shop while Anushka

was outside. Anushka had a bony face of an
Ethiopian or of a Somalian. Sydney’s tuck-shop
was well stocked with goods in an orderly
manner.
“I have been offered a job by this Arab

man,” she had said.
“Oh really?” he had asked. “You have

grown tired of running domestic chores for
these lazy buggers?”
“I am having misgivings,” she had

replied.
“So where is the problem?” the other

asked. “We ran away from the war and here
we are. We have to run away from marauding
youths who start throwing stones when they run
out of their mother’s child support payments.”
“I want you to check him out,” she had

replied.

boomerang boomerang
“Why me Anushka?” he had asked. “He took me in a vehicle and drove to

“Since when have I become a detective?” the sea in the evening. He picks me up
whenever I am off duty for different dates in
“You are a man besides which, you have different places. I think we have gone out
an instinct ever since we crossed together from about twelve times. My valuation is that it’s not
the ravages of Mogadishu. With that SKS rifle, about marriage.”
you decided whether or not our group of
women lived or bore you sons/daughters. You “You think he doesn’t want to marry?”
selected that we must all live and select our he had asked.
own husbands later,” she had replied. That
didn’t make her an Egyptian then. “You are “Absolutely not. I told him I have three
the only one besides my brother, his wife and kids to look after. I told him my husband died in
my step-sister whom I can confide in. We speak a refugee camp in Kenya,” she had replied.
a language separate from these _______ “He is not the marrying type. I also told him I am
others.” not the loose type of woman looking for a
boyfriend.”
“Okay when does he come here?” he
had asked. “I am not promising any miracles “So?”
my sister.”
“There on the seas shore he wanted sex. I
“No we are meeting in town,” she had told him, nada, I am not a prostitute,” she had
replied. “He saw me at a fund raiser when I was said.
working as a waitress. He has been onto me
“And?”
ever since.”
“He has been giving me crisp R100 notes
“Tell me more. Maybe you will be the
every week for no service,” she had replied.
wife of an Arab. I bet you he has other wives
Sydney nodded his head. “I just think he is after
stashed all over the country like rats stocking
my body.”
winter fodder.”
“Next time he comes you phone me. I
will see what I can do.”
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“Okay fellow country man,” she had left. Sydney fitted earphones to the cell and
rode off on his bike listening to the
For a woman who had had three conversation.
children within seven years to which she had
lost her husband four years later she was still “So, “the Arab had said. “Last time I tried
looking youthful and girlish. Anushka was not touching your breasts you freaked out.”
very attractive. Sydney wondered what a man
would see in her. He realized that manly “You were improper,” she had replied.
preferences for wives depended on their own “Are you not abiding by the faith like me?”
individual needs otherwise they varied. One
“Yeah I am. They say when in Rome do
man’s meat was another’s poison. A woman
as the Romans do,” he had replied.
who was so talkative she hardly stopped
talking had been the one he had married. “I don’t know if you are still practising the
Others preferred women who were quiet or faith.”
reserved like Anushka.
“Can we find somewhere where we can
Yet she had married. Anushka had had talk at this hour without getting robbed?” he
three children. She had lost her husband in a had asked.
terrible civil war pitting one warlord against
another with civilians becoming RPG and “Not your house. I am not a prostitute.
machine gun fodder. They shared a sad and Back home they stoned women for being
terrifying past when they had grown together raped and not the rapists.”
as neighbours in a country ravaged by civil
war. The bonus of deposing one dictator by “How many children do you have?” he
force of arms had been internal strife as had asked.
different warlords fought to control Mogadishu
and ultimately Somalia. Sydney went through “Three,” she had replied. “I have since
his motor cycle when he was free oiling and stopped counting the children I will ever have.”
making sure it was okay. Around nine in the
evening she telephoned. He picked up his cell
and there was no response.
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“What if I want you to have a fourth “Maybe I will stay here in Cape Town,”
one?” he asked. “Am I not good enough a she had replied. “That way I can prevent
Muslim to give you three more children?” carrying an unwanted child in Mombasa.”
“No ways,” she had replied. “I am not “You can come and live with me for a
going to be a concubine like Hagar bearing week like a housemaid. Only that I will be your
children for others to enjoy.” husband for the short time,” he had
encouraged.
“I told you there is a passenger ship
coming to Dar es Salaam. It requires female “Maybe I will remain a waitress,” she had
waitresses. You illegal immigrants have the replied. “The tips are great though the pay is
advantage in demanding less pay, getting low and the working hours border on
more hours and you don’t strike,” he had dangerous.”
explained.
“How old are you?”
She gave him an address which was
open that evening. As they had supper she She was taken aback. She counted the
heard a motor bike stopping and starting. He years. “I am thirty-six.”
wore jeans and t-shirts while she had a long
“How many men of my race and age will
flower covered dress with matching head
look at an African woman of that age?” he
gear.
had asked her. He spiced his language. “And
“Tell me more about Tanzania,” she had how many of them would want to create seed
replied. with you at your age?”
“To get there you have to come “I wouldn’t know ______,” she had
between my sheets first,” he had said. “I have replied. “I never thought in those terms. What is
to have you spread eagled before me. I will it about me that you like?”
help you with the other logistics afterwards.”
“You remind me of Anita, a girl who
ditched me when I was still in Lebanon,” he
had replied.
boomerang boomerang
“I will consider. Why do you want to find “Do you live alone?” his breathing was
work for me?” hoarse.
“I will be moving to Mombasa soon. You “No with an extended family.”

will bear my child when you have worked on
the ship awaiting my transfer.” “I will telephone.”
“I have children here.” “I wait to hear from you,” she had exited
the vehicle.
“That is much the better. You will support
them well,” he had replied. He drove into the city selecting an area
he knew well. He slowed down. Three girls
He talked about the passenger industry came to the window. He reached out with his
and the problems associated with labour and hands feeling their cups. The one he thought
running low on profits. was best, he asked her in. They were intelligent
hookers, they took his vehicle registration. Not
“The finer details after you heed my only that but a photo of the vehicle from the
request,” he had said. back. That wouldn’t please the faith
community, he thought wryly.
“I will think about both,” she had replied.
He released her early in the morning
He dropped her home. By that time
while it was still dark. He drove her into the city
Sydney had no cell connection because her
thirty minutes before sun up. He had taken the
airtime had run out. He saw the red taillights of
precaution to switch off all outside lights so she
his vehicle. He stopped chatting to Anushka.
couldn’t notice too much.
He studied the vehicle from where he was.
The man put his hands on her legs talking

finer points. He raised the hand to her chin. He ___________________________________
turned her face by her cheeks. He kissed her on
the mouth. She did not resist.

boomerang boomerang
Anushka came to the tuck-shop. “What “I defended a warlord who had us under
do you think Sydney?” court martial. Had the lorry not overtaken we
would have been shot by the firing squad,” he
“I don’t know my sister. I took had replied. “Don’t tell that story. That is why I
photographs of him, his vehicle and you too, changed my first name.”
just in case.”
“I won’t.”
“Tanzania?” she thought.
“So what have you decided?”
“One of our countrymen is working in a
ship that docks in Cape Town almost every “He will phone. He wants what one gang
month,” Sydney had replied. “It’s your choice.” of three South African blacks took for free one
night when they raided our homes,” she had
“I am afraid of going to his place then replied. “Don’t look at me like that. You are like
you will have to hear my body was picked up a brother to me. You should never cheat your
in the Tugela River,” she had replied. hardworking wife. Those domestic jobs are
damaging her shoulders and back. Do you
“I have his details,” he had replied.
know that one of my team was set upon by the
“I will keep you posted,” she had replied. husband of the woman she was working for?
She couldn’t even approach the police.
“If you make it to Tanzania and things
are okay you give me a line. Running a tuck- “What do you do when you don’t have
shop that is trashed every time there are race travelling papers or an identity of the country
riots is not rosy,” he had replied. of origin and you are stuck in a foreign
country? I am as good as a Palestinian refugee
“Had you known when you fought fleeing fire-fights between the PLO and Israelis
against the US Rangers in Mogadishu you on one hand, the PLO and Black September
wouldn’t have risked your life against those whatever on the other and you are in Beirut
that wanted you to live,” she had replied. where the Christians and religious extremists are
lobbying shells at each other. What do you
do?”
boomerang boomerang
“I guess you have to come out of your into the lounge to watch television and chat.
hiding place when there is a lull in the fighting.“ That was why he was popular with the ladies.
He was fully charged soon.
“Exactly, that is why I am afraid. What if
the lull is like a trap?” She inspected the array of various ladies
in various forms of nudity which adorned his
“I am just concerned Anushka.” wall.
“If he telephones same procedure,” she “Of these which is Anita?” she had
had replied. asked.
He had called her. He gave her an He pointed at a photograph of a fellow

address where he would pick her up. He took African like her on the beach with her mini
her for dinner at Green Point overlooking Table white dress around her waist only. The legs
Bay Harbour watching the lights of ships, were fair. She was very attractive. She
frigates, tug boats, leisure craft and the odd probably weighed one and half times her fifty-
container ship coming in. They had tenderloin three kilograms. She had a much bigger bust
beef with potatoes and mixed salad. He had that was sagging. Her brown eyes were
asked her to have clothes for three nights out brilliant. She looked half into the camera with
with him. When he left the restaurant he found her head twisted to one side like a stork
time to put his arms around her from the back checking for frogs.
showing her the lights of Ruben Island. She was
much taller than him. “Here it’s written Desert Rose? I hope
there will be no photograph of mine in the
Sydney rode his motorcycle watching nude. That is breaking every rule in the faith
details. The vehicle headed towards indeed.”
Constantia. Once within the perimeter she had
shut off her phone. He didn’t hear his harsh “That is what I called her.”
breathing. He took her against the wall kissing
her ravenously. He consummated their love still “I didn’t know there were Africans in
standing on that wall. After a bath he took her Beirut,” she had observed.

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“She was studying medicine,” he had detergent. They sweated from every gland and
replied. orifice.
____________________________________ Then there was the welcome party.

Armed guards with dogs read them the act.
“You will be fed in your rooms. We will

Anushka came to the tuck-shop. “So?” allow you to start work tomorrow. Any
insubordination and you will be like
“He says by next week I should be in
______________,” the guard had said.
Mombasa,” she had replied.
He opened a blanket near where they
“I saw where he took you. At a huge
were.
residence with a swimming pool stuck in a hill?”
“She was from East Timor. What a shame
“I was kept locked in,” she had replied. “I
and a waste.”
could hear the waves at one point as we
drove.” “You are nothing but whores. You will
receive your ration of men who want you. Your
She went to Tanzania.
rooms have microphones. You tell those men
__________________________________ how you came here and you will end up in a
body bag for the Arab desert. Mind when you
hear the air raid sirens because the Israeli army
is nearby. They don’t like blacks or Asians which
The aeroplane took a long time in the air. is your mixture. You are in Palestine. To the west
To make matters worse they were stashed in is Egypt.”
crates. When they finally made daylight, they
were weak, hungry and thirsty. They were All the women looked aside away from
bundled into a vehicle, all seven of them criss- the ashen face before them. The blanket was
crossing streets they didn’t know. The interior replaced. An old man of almost fifty-eight
was hot and stuffy smelling of dry clean years roughly pushed her towards her room
while the guards followed allocating rooms to
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each of them. The old man entered with her. There was one way of escaping the war,
She heard the key shoot home. becoming a foreign prisoner without her rights.
She started praying again like she had done in
“My name is Afridi. I will teach you how Mogadishu when Sydney had appeared with
to behave if you misbehave. Huh? You want to his armed gang to shepherd them to safety in
look good in a body bag headed for the between the street battles won today and lost
scotching desert sands?” tomorrow.
“Oh my goodness,” was all she said. For the next six months the old man
never bothered her.
Her clothes were striped from her to her
birthday suit by the old man. She was made to ____________________________________
turn around for his perusal. He had her bent
almost double with her head near his ankles
while his fingers were running in her innards all
the while saying something in Arabic. He Sydney never heard from her. He
snorted. enquired of her relatives.
He didn’t bother with preliminaries “She said Tanzania but she has been
neither did he say much to her. He showed her gone six months not even a word. Now we
what was to come. He showed her his own have to look after her three children,” they had
nudity. He grinned. She didn’t say a sound. The replied.
old man was after nothing but her backsides
“There is a guy who takes ladies to
which held her anal cavity that her prized
Tanzania whom I would like to see,” Sydney
throughout the night. In between, on the bed,
had replied. “Let me first visit a police
he pushed her to the far edge while he slept
detachment which saved my tuck-shop one
legs thrown akimbo snoring like an express
time.”
train. When the snores stopped, her anal cavity
hurt. She just lay limp accepting the He reported to the police. “We receive
punishment. a lot of missing persons’ reports.”

boomerang boomerang
“Do you receive any aligned to ones separated when they grew older. The
that had dated Asian men?” Sydney had demands of family life came along.
asked,
Each one had married with Bahumathi’s
“Not at this station,” the policeman had husband dying within five years leaving her
said. “Do you have her particulars?” and two daughters to scrounge. Bahuputri
worked in a steamy factory while Bahumathi
“A photograph is what I remembered to had chanced on a job placement to Saudi
carry,” he had produced one. “There on the Arabia. Before that they had had telepathic
beach, the tall one. The Asian is the one she contact. Without a letter being written they
was last seen with.” would find themselves visiting each other when
one was sick of injured.
“Um,” the man had filled in forms before
typing information into his computer. He Bahuputri had last seen her sister when
placed the photograph in a scanner. With a they took her to the airport three years ago.
minute he had returned the photograph. The Bahumathi had promised to work tirelessly for
picture was now in a computer screen. “Bring her twin sister’s airfare so they could escape
me her other particulars to complete the the poverty like some of their village mates
report.” who were in Europe. It was unlike Bahumathi
not to communicate or support their aging
__________________________________
parents and her growing daughters.
Bahuputri had been searching for

The problem with twins is that at times Bahumathi’s male friend who had placed her
they communicate without speech or in Saudi Arabia all the time without success.
telephone. How, that is something researches She reported the issue to the police who had
should find out maybe the internet may be shown disinterest.
replaced by telepathy through advanced
“She could be in human trafficking
twins who can communicate. Born in India, two
hands,” she had replied.
women Bahumathi and Bahuputri had been

boomerang boomerang
Then she had seen the man friend of her Kailashchandra had a master’s degree
sister. She did not rush to introduce herself. She in international trade and finance. He worked
followed discreetly until she saw where he was at the Indian embassy in Dubai. He specialized
operating from. She had reported the issue to in making sure he represented commercial
the police where bored officers had looked at entities from India that where doing business in
her. She narrated the same ordeal she had Dubai for his attachment period. His wife had
narrated before. She got her receipt for gone home to India to attend a funeral. That
reporting. When she was gone one bored had been five weeks ago. Maybe she would
officer took the report to an office where be coming back next week. Kailashchandra
another sleepy officer punched it into a had read the report concerning Bahumathi
machine to advice their consulates in the and other Indian women who had
Middle East. disappeared in the Arabic peninsula as
alleged. He had read some of them while
Another one took the details and went joking on the dreams of the twin sister with
searching until he saw the quarry. He set up a other men.
network of beggars who could watch the
going in and out of their quarry. There was a He had been in the city when he
fire at a place near their quarry to which the thought he wanted to discharge what was in
fire services had reacted well. While their his crotch. Knowing the religious rules, he made
quarry watched the firemen, his telephone was inquiries. He had been shepherded to a secure
tapped, and closed circuit televisions were complex. Within an hour he was talking to an
mounted. Indian girl. He had a gift of knowing directions
even when he drove into or out of a place in
Within three weeks the police had leads the dark. He was not into the intelligence
on some missing women. Their quarry was services but it was a geographical feature he
finding women suspicions jobs in the Middle had. He never got lost coming back to a place
East. he had visited even after a year.
____________________________________ He was civil. He entered the room

removing his business suit. The lady looked at

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him until he was in his birthday suit. He came the police would report on a dead consulate
onto the bed and entered the sheets. official picked in a dirty street. He would have
had an overdose of drugs. He had never used
“What will it be?” the woman had asked. them in his life.
“What is comfortable to you?” he had “Bahumathi.”

asked in Hindi.
“You have a twin sister works in a factory
“You are the customer.” back in Arunachai Pradesh?” he asked. “Get
to look like you are sucking me within the
“If I had known you were Indian, I would
blankets. Your ramp should be near my ear like
have preferred an Arab girl,” he had replied.
I am licking. She works in Sanskirt.”
“There are no Arab girls. We meet in the
“Yes!”
courtyard downstairs. All of us are foreign sex
slaves,” she had whispered. “Shhh!”
“Missionary,” he had replied. While she talked, he kissed and did other
things.
He had played preliminaries, kissing and
touching encouraging her to touch him. “Imagine if it was your sister being used
for free,” she whispered. “Wouldn’t you do
“What is your name?” he asked in Hindi.
something? They are pocketing whatever they
“If they hear you ask that they will throw charge us. Who knows how we leave this place
you out,” she had whispered within the sheets. if not in a hearse?”
“What is your name?” he had asked. “I will do something if you shut up and
don’t act stupid. We could both die!”
He was still doing the preliminaries which
had allowed him space. He made them drawn He did what he had paid to do.
out so that time could evolve. He was now in
no hurry. He also knew in this type of situation,
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“You are my brother, remember me,” “Remain alive for two more weeks.”
she whispered.
“I have received shame. I don’t need to
“Have any of you ever escaped?” live,” she had replied.
“Not that I have heard of. There is a They lay side by side because he still had
group that followed after us that included a an hour to go. She didn’t speak to him again
Timorese woman. One guard took a fancy of choosing to cover her face and weep. She
her. He would return time after time when there pulled her blankets to her chin because she
were no customers to orally rape her.” knew the camera was reporting on sound and
vision. He had left the complex. They had
“And?” searched his cell phone just in case. He was
taken out. On the morrow he had had
“She died.”
breakfast with three reporters he had heard
“Just like that?” were at times deported for their news
reporting. After it they drove through the city
“He filled her mouth up. She pressed her until they stopped by a building.
teeth hard one night. She locked her jaws. No
amount of beating would make her release her “You think this is it?” asked one of them.
jaws. He screamed. He beat her but she kept
“We are probably being seen on CCTV,”
the jaws locked. The guards opened the door
he had replied.
after a while. He had no manhood but she was
dead. He was in a pool of blood. “ “Great,” the other had driven off. The
three set up their elaborate system that
“And did he live?”
included using sewers mains. “If you ever return
“I don’t think so. If you are slow I might here we will report your death.”
not live too. I have no reason too. I have been
“I will now stay as close to the embassy
shamed enough. One of these days I will do
as possible.”
something to the men coming here. One of
them is going to the grave with me.“
boomerang boomerang
He reported to his bosses that he three buildings. The commissioner was calling
suspected there were Indian women who had for his head on the platter. His juniors said they
been trafficked. His boss told him if he heard one shot gun blast. The syndicate was
considered his life, he should remain silent while busted. By the time every sex slave in three
whosoever he was working with had the issue localities had been identified and they had
out. gone through procedures, it was a huge haul.
____________________________________ The police also said they had recovered the

body of a fifty-five year old man who had stab
wounds in his private parts from a wooden plank
which had come off a base bed and had been
The reporters when they had their beef sharpened on a wall. The man should have bled to
tipped the national police several weeks later. death when the women were removed. He
seemed to have had his own shirt stuffed in his
The building’s occupants were removed mouth while his hands were bound by pantyhose.
at night but infra-red imaging devices followed His shoes were tied by his laces around his neck.
them. They were placed elsewhere but a team The national police also believe that about seven
of reporters in disguise broadcast the removal of these sex slaves were killed and buried within the
live on many networks while the police chief country.
showed reporters an empty building. He
The gang has been charged with
accused the western world of being haters of
trafficking in humans, drugs, illicit sexual
their religion. He was still addressing reporters
activity, murder, rape and crimes against
when one of the camera crew showed him live religion. Most are likely to face the death
feeds on his own national television. penalty for their crimes.
He rushed to his police headquarters. On ____________________________________
the way on the road he watched news on a
building with a display screen showing the
women who were being moved to another
building. By the time he reached his office half “Brother?” the woman who said so was
his police force was rescuing sex slaves from wearing full regalia of the faith from head to
toe. Her eyes were within dark shades.
boomerang boomerang
“My sister, how are you?” he had asked involved with a woman who was estranged.
from within his shop. She tipped her husband when he started
sexual advances. The police reported ten days
“I heard you now sale motor vehicle ago that there was a Pakistani national who
spare parts,” she had replied. had died in a fire in a white VW Golf Citi near
Muizenberg overlooking False Bay.”
“Yes, every conceivable type of small
parts.” “Yes,” she had replied. “I ended up in a
desert city, sold for sex, not to one man. It was
“For a man who once shot against the
horrendous.”
US rangers, you have done well,” she had
replied. “Your memory seemed to have “Please sit down.”
slipped.”
“I heard that the Arab man responsible in
“Anushka!” Cape Town was shot by two men on a
motorcycle. His three friends escaped the
“Sydney my little brother? I remember
house straight into the fire power of the police.
running with you in Mogadishu when Siad Barre
Their gang was routed.”
was still alive,” she had hugged him.
“Yes, two of his friends, the third one died
“I thought _________,” he had replied.
in a horrendous VW Gold fire somewhere on
“I didn’t die. I suffered the worst the Cape Flats” he had replied. “I no longer
humiliation a widow can suffer,” she had ride a motor cycle. If you are alive I am
replied. happy.”
“I read somewhere in the papers that “Dubai national police reported that the
there had been a drug and human trafficking man who died in Dubai, was strangled and hit
syndicate centred here in Cape Town,” he had in the groin by two sex slaves he had tried to
replied. “Before those who were overseas were ride while others were being moved. That man,
released the police here had rescued some that horrible old man has been identified as the
intended victims. One of the recruiters was father of the Cape Town ring leader shot by a

boomerang boomerang
motor cycle gang. Was the motor cycle residence giving Abreeq no chance. His two
anyway near the VW Golf Citi when it burst into mates had dived into the swimming pool but
flames?” apparently the killers were after him and him
alone. All the shots were located in the groin.
“I wouldn’t know but the intended sex Their relief at surviving had been short lived
slave was tipped about these disappearances. when sirens had sounded as police pounced
She wasn’t in fortunately. Added to which the on their illicit operations.
intended victim did not want casual sex in
order to get an outside job. She and her The cycle made off through bushes and
estranged husband might have been more rocks and disappeared from the scene.
concerned with getting to the source of the
money being thrown around than her sleeping Police units had been trailing them for
with the Pakistani national.” about seven weeks. The police said the gang
were involved in human trafficking. The report
“And where this vehicle went alight a also said seven women destined for a Far East
motor cycle could ride through the bushes for country had been whisked off a plane by the
home if the riders knew the area well?” police and border agents while several
handlers had been arrested in the Middle East.
“How does a woman who has suffered The police had arrested seven men in
such violence return to normal life and expect connection with human trafficking in Africa
to date and marry yet again?” alone and almost thirty in the Middle East. The
police had reported the death of X!@#$%^^.
____________________________________
Dubai police confirmed that they had
identified the man burnt beyond recognition in
The Cape Town papers reported that a VW Golf Citi almost six days ago as one of the
head of a crime syndicate had been shot and gang. The man shot and killed in a rented
killed by two men on a motorbike moments home in Cape Town was enjoying the
before the police had pounced on the privileges of illicit money by renting a furnished
network. The motorbike had delivered seven house every three months changing location
shots at close range when it entered the throughout Cape Town alongside his
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compatriots. The arrested individuals revealed “The case against me for which I jumped
to the police that their network was going to bail was Heaven considering what I faced
move to Harare for six months before moving there in my attempt to get a better job. I had a
to Luanda. score to settle with an Arab man based in
Cape Town but I read he was shot seven times.
Dubai police have confirmed that the He deserved what he got because he took us
man found dead in a former sex-slave for animals.
compound and the man shot dead in Cape
Town are a father and son team. One of the “Though we will receive compensation, it
Indian crime syndicate handlers had been will not erase the treatment we received. I
found dead in a police cell. Apparently Indian have never in my life sunk so low in
police would like to question an old widow that degradation of the human body by another
brought him tea an hour before he had died. human being. They treated us far below slaves
The police are eager to know why only he because we had no life, use or purpose for
drank the tea and no other prisoner. The dead them besides increasing their bank balances
prisoner was not an Indian national. from which compensation will be deducted as
well.”
Was it that the others had been warned
in Hindi? The local prisoners refused to Asked if she would ever marry after what
cooperate besides saying tea had been happened she replied that marriage is an
brought by a widow aged around sixty-one institution that would have prevented what
years old. One of the African women rescued had happened. ‘I definitely know it’s not too
after a year of sex servitude had reported. late to be a mother of two or three. I prayed
when I was in sexual slavery. I will not repeat
“I know I did wrong against God. He the mistakes I did. Maybe after giving myself a
brought his judgement against me. I suffered year or two to forgive, I will look up the dating
degradation and humiliation at its worst. trees’.”
Though they sent us through counselling and
forgiveness seminars I still have nightmares ____________________________________
about what happened.

boomerang boomerang
gumi
nepfumbamwe
(19)

boomerang boomerang
Shifting allegiances was like a breeze.

One time her company had gone under,
defaulting on its obligations including workers
salaries, allowances, pensions and medical aid
contributions. Then she had smelt the fire like
an elephant in a thicket of dry trees and grass.
She had behaved like a champion swimmer
swimming under water to appear far away
from her entry point. She had behaved like a
Cuban on a merchant ship jumping overboard
and swimming to Miami for freedom.
She found teaching to be relaxing and

invigorating. It was different from when she had
had criminal procedures to worry about or
case upon case. Now she was lecturing on the
same law topics she knew using the syllabi
available in the host country. She had bulked
at coming here. Somehow the arrest of her
bosses on misuse of guardian funds and the
subsequent events that had unfolded had left
her no option but to eject from her comfort
zone. If penguins could withstand the Polar
Regions what would prevent her from starting
afresh?
Her family doctor had warned her on

several fronts. He had asked her to take more
exercises, less fat, worry less and change her
frame of mind otherwise she was going to be a
patient of several illnesses including blood
pressure and sugar diabetes. She had decided
boomerang boomerang
to take an invitation she had been considering ended on the desk of the attorney who was
for some while ever since their company had forming the bulk of the representative’s legal
started pulling the rugs from underneath them. advice team. Now she marked her assignment
forgetting about what Pauline had talked
“Ma’am,” one of her charges had said about.
when she was leaving the last class for the day.
Why did Pauline and her friends like their
“Yes ___.” lecturer so much given that they were different
shades of colour and different cultures? Why
“Pauline is the name.”
did people from Puerto Rico feel they were
“I mistake your name with that for different from the mainstream? Both girls spoke
Sheandra.” English without an accent though they were
well versed in Spanish.
“Okay. I and my friends, about four of us
are going on a river cruise on the Hudson to After her duties at the office of the
Bear Mountain. There is a lot to see in a relaxing member of the House of Representatives she
environment with other tourists usually of started for home. On the rails as the train
different nationalities.” moved she remembered Sheandra and her
friends.
“I am very busy Pauline.”
“Sir,” she asked an old man next to her.
“Ma’am it’s time to relax for a few hours.
It’s due in two weeks’ time. I will keep advising “Yes?”
you,” Pauline had said.
“What's the attraction at Bear
“Okay,” Ndanatsiwa had replied. Mountain?”
She had to attend to her duties at a "It’s normally going up the Hudson River
local House of Representatives office where which is appealing. These tours normally finish
she had been squeezed in to help with at Bear Mountain State Park. It’s quite nice to
research and writing legal documents that visit the mountain. There is the usual mountain

boomerang boomerang
scenery available in a park, lakes, flora, fauna, Hey stop these potato peelings from flying will
birds and the occasional deer.” you? I think someone has been reading The
Wishing Chair and Other Stories."
“Thank you.”
”Thanks for the invite Oswald. We will
“The pleasure is all mine mademoiselle.” manage the brood."
”Tamari, Moline and Charles will have

their hands full. I want to dump them at a
__________________________________
children’s funfair so we can have supper in
peace.”
"Girls," her male cousin on her maternal "At the orphanage?” asked Maria.
side had said. "There is a brand marketing
“Maria don’t insult me,” Oswald
dinner at a chic restaurant so you are free to
complained.
tag along with me."
“They will need an adult escort Oswald."
"Thanks Oswald. Let me stay at home
and mind the kids if they are not going." “There is someone who owes me a
favour who is taking their twins there also. A
“Ndanatsiwa is coming with us." Oswald’s
pack of three children aged between fifteen
wife was not hearing her excuses. "It is good to
and eight won’t be a bother. My Tamari and
relax, have food drinks and just chill out. There
Moline can check on her twins," Oswald said.
is no better way to learn the traditions, culture
and customs of a new people better than “A she?” asked Maria. “I think I will
attending events.” cancel dinner. I don’t need competition that
produces twins at a time.”
“Ndanatsiwa, you heard Maria’s saying.
My wife has spoken. When she speaks there
are no, no butts. When she said Oswald you
are going to marry me ______ I had no option. __________________________________

boomerang boomerang
for the weather was likely to change. Besides

the streets outside were not as air conditioned
Dinner was great and wonderful. The as this restaurant was. She had been sitting by
comedian was good. She did not find his her own opting to leave the couple free.
sexual innuendos funny. She did not mix sex Marriages were under attack from several
and comedy especially in an atmosphere fronts. When couples found time alone, she
where some people had families. She was respected.
finishing her meal when someone tapped her
on the shoulder. She looked up. ”Of all the people why do I meet you
here?” she had asked.
There was a tall, slightly stout man of
about sixty to seventy kilograms whose height "I came here on business," he had
was in the metre eighty ranges. It was a shock replied. "I was having dinner with clients on the
to her to notice his features including his bony other level of this restaurant when I spied you
nose and the eyes that looked like they were on my way out. The clients make or break an
jumping up and down when he was excited. artiste. It is like a real estate developer and a
The beard was trimmed and cropped right team of financiers. The relationship is to be
around with no side beard visible. maintained as cordial as possible."
"Hi." "I am here with a cousin and his wife. So

what happened to the skilled carpenter class 1
"You!" that was in you?" She had asked. “I don’t think
there are any hinges in this restaurant that
"Me. Can I sit for a moment?"
need fixing.”
“You are free to,” she had said.
"I didn’t know you had joined the Great
She put her palm under her chin looking Trek out of the country. By the time we were
at him. She could see from around the upper making surprise announcements for mom and
waist up because the table was blocking the dad you had taken off. I searched the whole
rest from view. He was in a business suit property I didn’t find you.”
complete with a coat that he had over his arm
boomerang boomerang
"The other lady had made sure I knew “The Crown Restaurant, 89th Street East,
you two were having a sexual relationship. I 1800hrs Wednesday evening don’t short
was an imposter,” she had replied. change me.”
“I told you Ndanatsiwa you were letting “Got it.”

jealous get the better of you. Mildred
insinuated that I was sleeping with her and her He disappeared into the evening traffic.
friend. Is that probable in the old country The last she saw were two Caucasians in suits
considering our customs? I had more than four patting him on the shoulder before a
broken relationship with Mildred. She was just transparent glass and chrome steel alloy cage
acting up and being very silly. You women take door closed taking him down to the street
offense where there is none so quickly. What below.
are you doing here?”
Why?
“Here I am teaching and doing odd
____________________________________
jobs,” she had replied. “Our company went
into receivership. The main partners, three of
them were blacklisted. I didn’t wait to look
around for a less lucrative job than I did. I She left her last post taking the train
jumped out of the river into the overseas lake home. Since she had an assignment to do for
and here I am. I am currently teaching law. her class she clambered up the stairs towards
Practising is rather very complicated for me to the escalator. On reaching the street level,
follow the procedures.” something made her look at a building with
billboards. There was a section within that
"My business associates are on the move. showed it was an art gallery and its works were
I will see you Ndanatsiwa. I wouldn’t be having on display.
free supper with a limousine to take me home
had I remained a skilled class one apprentice That is how artistes beat the rest of the
trained carpenter fixing door hinges. The forty hour a week workers. Not all of the artistes
projects manager would have taken the but those that had made the grade. Those that
honours of meeting the clients.” worked while the sun was still up. Those that
boomerang boomerang
worked and sweated well enough. Those that background while the creator was standing by
toiled and did not give up counted themselves to explain how he welded sculptures and not
lucky when their creations were auctioned to steel.
major art lovers.
"Ha."
It provided her with raw memories. She
crossed the street watching for traffic against ”Pardon, “someone close by said.
the three open lanes until she reached the
“Sorry I was thinking to myself,” she
traffic island in between. She rested from her
replied.
labour awaiting the pedestrian traffic lights to
change. When the lights were green, she She was looking at the fish eagle with a
crossed. A volume of pedestrians were crossing fish in its talons which had been created out of
the pedestrian lane. She paid an admission a single block of a dry Mopani tree. She
and started moving from places to place remembered a fire side chat in the rural areas
observing the paintings, sculptures and using Mopani wood. The wood would remain
carvings. smouldering even after twenty-four hours. The
tree’s middle portion was as hard as steel. How
The admission came with a card that
had a man created this fish eagle and its prey
was folded which showed which exhibits were
including the base with such hardwood?
in which section of the four storeys being used.
There were the names of the artistes but she It was massive yet breath-taking. It stood
did not bother reading the card. She was taller than her even though she was almost six
mesmerised by the displays for the next hour feet tall. Oh, she realised, the fish eagle was
and a half. She was reading names making cheating. It had a base of about a feet and a
sure she did not fail to notice any from Africa. half of solid wood otherwise they should have
been the same height. The creator should
Most of those showcased from Africa
have been on a step ladder as they moved
where from West Africa. Just some wrought iron
around.
pieces thrown away had created a pray
mantis and her two babies which had grown “Fish eagles are a common sight in
men taking photographs or using it as a African rivers, large ones," someone said
boomerang boomerang
behind her. “Here we find bald eagles or the shades of the trees, getting rid of rodents. He
California Condors which are other predator did his apprentice training in the coldest and
birds to match the fish eagle in size. African Fish hilliest part of the country where there are giant
eagles have a body mass much smaller than foreign trees that grow quickly. It is the same
the California Condors. However they have someone that stood me up at the Crown
very good hunting skills. They see their prey Seafood Restaurant.”
while riding thermals three kilometres in space.
They swoop down and never miss. If the fish is "Oh gosh, you again,” he replied. “Are
too big, they waddle to shore and feed before you stalking me?”
trying to take off with their prize catch.”
"I looked stupid and forlorn. I ordered fish
She had on a full dress reaching to her and chips instead of a rare meal that I
knees with button up detail. Over it she had a wanted.”
sweater. She held her cloak in her hand. She
"I was tied up too many loose ends,” he
had brown knee length heeled winter boots.
had replied. “Besides which in this environment,
“These birds normally poach chickens if you want fish and chips, you can buy the
from rural villages. I remember the mother hens chips freshly packed and vacuum sealed. You
and cocks giving the alarms before rushing to buy the fish, whole bone removed and ready.
hide underneath granaries that were built on All you need is fry or bake or grill whatever.”
stilts or large rocks with spaces underneath.
"You could have telephoned. If you
They pick off hares in the bush if there is no tree
need a girl in New York you just look up the
cover.”
horny adverts so there was no need for dinner I
“Those are normal African eagles not fish guess.”
eagles. Did you grow up in Africa?”
"I never got even a calling card."
“I know a pathetic looking skilled
"In some countries, they will shoot you for
carpenter class 1 cum wood carver who grew
standing up a lady," she had replied. “Besides
up in a rural enclave filled with huge trees. He
which I never lost my contacts on Facebook®,
grew up observing barn owls hunting in the
Twitter®, Yahoomail®, Instagram® or
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Photobucket® to name but a few way of king who had a snake in his throat. He needed
contacting me.” a frog to entice the creature out. Maybe he
was Pussy in Boots, the cat that went to see the
“From that time when we met I was in Queen of England and frightened a rat that
Tennessee on a working farm casting a carving came underneath the crown chair.
using a big yellowwood tree. The customer
made sure I was housed there for two days "That is a fish eagle normally found in the
while I worked. Whatever equipment I needed Zambezi or Limpopo Rivers or any of our inland
was hauled in by road. There was a couple and broad waters like the upper Manyame.
which came to see me working. The woman That is within our country otherwise the same
had been in the United States for six years. She bird and different species of it are found in the
and her husband are all Russians. She spoke Chobe, meandering Zambezi in Botswana,
English with a heavy accent on home, house, Namibia, Angola even in Kenya and Tanzania
and husband almost as if dragging them. She as long as there are large rivers."
was good, she gave me an order.”
"Impressive. I didn’t know you had an art
“So you fell in love with Lubyanka?” exhibition running."
“Didn’t I say they are a Russian couple?” “My promoters fitted me in. It pays to
cast your net wide because you never know
“It doesn’t matter that she is married to what type of fish you may hook in. One day
Dimitri. Kling David did it with Bathsheba and you will pull in a disused tyre, the next a metal
gave us Solomon.” bin and yet another day a few salmon. I was a
bit apprehensive about coming here. However
“They didn’t have names like Dimitri and
the business is great. It keeps me on my toes
Lubyanka. It was Tanya and Antonov, lady!”
working long hours.”
“It doesn’t stop you from merely saying I
"Why was I one of the last people to
won’t be around.”
know that you were here?" she asked.
He was stuck for words. He could as
easily have been the childhood character of a
boomerang boomerang
"How could I make the announcement "Ma’ am."

when I had been thrown out?" he
remembered. “How do you get to know when “Are you still going up the Hudson to
you never ask?” Great Bear Mountain this weekend?”
“Sorry about that,” she was sheepish. “No, we have church commitments.
There is Tasha Cobbs singing at this venue
"Look around I have buyers to take care _________. Would you be interested in praising
of," he had gracefully left her. God through song and dance? There is a
preacher who normally appears on The Ramp
He wore grey work suits over some if you are interested?”
trousers and shirt within. The jacket was zipped
up. Carpentry like tools where hanging from a "Don’t worry another time maybe.”
belt. She looked around checking for his
signature on all the displays. “Yes ma’am.”
She looked for him an hour later. He was She found time to drop at Chelsea Piers
in negotiations with some three people as the brochure had said. She did her checks
including a lady. She found a piece of paper and paid her booking. She retreated to take
and wrote her name, contacts telephone time out in New York state park before
numbers and the name of a restaurant, date completing her assignments. Who would miss a
and time. She excused herself before putting single woman on a river cruise?
her paper in his breast pocket.
The cruise started on a Saturday morning
She sashayed on her way out. when she was free. She had her hair in braids
which were curled up. She had been doing the
____________________________________ cosmetics industry a great service by using
anti-dandruff shampoo. She felt free. The wind
was blowing into her face. The weather was
unpredictable but sunny.
"Sheandra,” Ndanatsiwa greeted her
student.
boomerang boomerang
Soon the boat started off. Over the "You are bad news to me,” she replied.
melee of the tourist one could not discern the “Are you stalking me?”
chug of the huge diesel engines moving the
boat upstream going against the current She was holding the rails as if she had
forcing them out to sea. They not only had to received a shock and needed therapy lest she
push it across the water but they produced dropped into the murky waters below her.
enough electricity to light a few houses. Their
“Sorry , here we are the only people able
speed had to be more than the current
to speak in a language no other person can
pushing the water down to the sea.
understand.”
The guides were picking off famous
“So?”
landmarks to the left and to the right. They
began with buildings that fronted the river or "I had a hard time with my agent and
could be seen through. buyers.”
“The Hudson miracle, where did it "In a nut shell you stood me up the
happen?” she had asked. second time.”
“That is a very good question but that “Let’s talk of my business. I have had a
was much below our pier. It was in winter also lot of interest and a lot of orders such that I
otherwise many people would have drowned.” have been working in my studio thirteen hours
a week Monday to Saturday. I haven’t found
“Oh when that plane landed with its
time for anything but junk food.”
passengers on an iced river?” someone had
remembered. "Oh. In other words you like chunk food."
“Yes that is it ________.” Breakfast was served. He preferred tea
to her choice of coffee with milk. He tainted his
“Hi,” out of the blue someone had
cups with slices of lemon. Occasionally he
picked her up when she had raised her hand
squinted his eyes and released, ahs, as the spirit
for the question.
went through his stomach. They enjoyed
boomerang boomerang
themselves. The boat proceeded further didn’t have any beer he just stopped at telling
upstream. They left New York City proper and us what to do and cursing.”
its unending skyline of concrete, brick, wood
and glass. “Oh?”
They had much to see including the “A lot happened after our fire fight,” he
Palisades Park land. These are one of New replied. “For one I didn’t see your chum or
York's awesome geological features. They lay comrade in arms Lydia Shashe though I invited
on the west side of the river as they cruised. her too.”
“Why don’t you sculpt rock instead of "Like we both came to the same city
wood?” she had asked training her Zeus when we had both not shown any prowess at
camera slowly across the views before them, emigrating,” she had replied. “I was stupid
enough to be jealous of a younger lady who
"I was taught both but I started on wood had no proven connection with you. I did learn
without any training at the age of three or four. later that she appeared on the national news
Mother says I used to fashion wooden dolls for covering presidential and parliamentary
my innumerable cousins. Stone is sculpting but affairs.”
wood is carving.”
"Like there was a party. Siblings had
"Mother?” bought a residential stand in a posh suburb.
We laboured over four years constructing it. I
“Mother is the woman who adopted did all the carpentry work and planning with
me and raised me.” the help of a civil engineer who is good at
wooden structural work. It is a suburban place
"I remember you saying there was a
better than our Highfield one when there was
male cousin of your adopted father who made
the entire hullabaloo. You and Mildred were
it known you were adopted,” she
not drawing attention. Uncle Thomas created
remembered.
a scene then he became the scene.”
"We called him Uncle Thomas. He was
the son of grandfather’s sibling. As long as he
boomerang boomerang
"I am listening. By that time I had left Different languages were being spoken with
within two minutes of me and Mildred talking. English being superimposed over all. He
She remained?" thought that New York was an expensive city
yet its huge population was what drew in many
”My dad’s male 'cousin' had had too to make their millions. It also had so many
many of Zimbabwe’s Bollinger’s lagers. He visitors from other states or overseas.
started broadcasting about inheritance with
reference to me. Dad made it out to him that Riverside towns were being called off
his children had surprised him with a house within a few kilometres of each other
therefore they were not even in his will as they sometimes separated by roads or bridges.
had more than enough.” Some looked like you could expect Abraham
Lincoln to come out. Others looked like
“So?” someone had tried practising moon landings
on them.
“There was a drinking buddy who knew
the male cousin from when they were boys. He They spied the Hudson River Valley,
spelt out his sexual prowess at fathering eight Haverstraw Bay and Sing Sing Maximum
children including four illegitimate ones. I am Security Prison. One wondered what sort of a
the third of the four illegitimate ones.” mind was used to break out of prison with such
security.
“What?”
"At least you know your father now.”
He explained.
“Do you know yours?"
“Oh?”
"I suspected about six men. I relied on
“Yap as it turned out. “
features that I suspected but these turned me
They watched the great and majestic wrong.”
George Washington and Tappan Zee Bridge
“My grandfather or my real
coming before them. The boat chugged on
grandfather’s blood brother was a famous
with lots of laughter from different quarters.
wood carver in Marondera before moving to
boomerang boomerang
Rusape after a chieftainship dispute. We have replied. “My step-father is the one who
similarities I didn’t know until after the defended me most when it mattered including
hullabaloo. My father told me he thought it was going against my adoptive grandparents who
a talent spirit that was on me which made me didn’t want me in his household. Before they
behave like his father. I remain the progeny of passed away they made me know I was not
my adopted parents. I have no dealing with a their son’s seed.“
biological father who is a nuisance at most
times.” They reached Bear Mountain State Park
where they took time to enjoy nature. He took
“I have known a biological father I her paddling on a lake. She sat upfront looking
didn’t know and an adoptive father on both at him while he and she both paddled. She
our sides. Which is it for you?” she asked. showed she had been exercising her big body.
It was just the two of them in a two man kayak.
“I trust calling the man I know as father They went hiking up marked trails. He kept
the same. The biological father and me are not taking her hand pulling her up stiff trails or
really in good books,” he had replied. “Yes sitting with her as they rested their aching knee
church has taught me to forgive and forget. joints. They cycled up and down. He was taller
My pastors when they counselled me told me than her by a fraction. She had more weight
there were likely to be spirits that follow than him. His shoulders were broad exuding
dumped babies like me in order for me to do power which he used to guide them as they
the same thing my father did, dump my own canoed.
litter of babies. The worst case scenario is
becoming a modern day Mamhepo In the wee of the evening the boat
brandishing my talents while breeding readied to go back.
numerous children with numerous unfortunate
women blinded by lust under the guise of "Your cruise is leaving," she advised.
love.”
"I am booked for the evening at The Bear
“Why do we have that in common Mountain Inn. I need climb up into the forests
except that I knew my mother? She looked to look at trees there. I don’t know why I do it
after me after birth and so on,” she had
boomerang boomerang
but I just like getting lost in a maze of trees “This is room service, sir.”
before making my next range of carvings."
"I didn’t order any room service.”
"Oh? What a coincidence?” she asked.
“Hey open up. This is business. I am doing
“You are staying overnight?” a customer services survey.” He did.
“In the same inn,””she had replied. “My There were about two or three
feet and my legs are killing me. There was too newspapers delivered early by the door. He
much activity.” glanced through them going through one
headline and two sports sections while she set
He took her for a walk watching the up what she wanted. They were in their gowns.
general splendour of nature within the New
York State Park. He took her hand in his. At most She had tea and cake to start the day.
times they walked arm in arm. Periodically they She sat there in her morning gown one leg
stood in close proximity arguing or talking or just thrown carelessly over the other engaging him
holding hands or in a bear hug. She consulted in conversation. Underneath she had a two
him on his preferences. She carried a tray with piece pyjama set.
their plates to the a la carte section. They had
roast beef and potato salad by the fire before “Are you still on face book?” he had
retiring to their different rooms. asked.
It was late when they turned in from all "I am still on face book, twitter,
the evening activities including especially the Instagram, pinterest etc,” she had replied.
four course dinner by candle light. The last time
“When I am out of the woods in two days
he had had supper by candle light, the
I will contact you.”
national grid had hiccupped. He woke up
early running through a shower. He heard a “You never do, don’t even promise.”
door bell before he was through. He wrapped
a towel going to open the door, He put his arm underneath her armpits
forcing her hands up. His hands encircled her
“Who is it?”
boomerang boomerang
waist. She was a big woman. He could feel the “Didn’t Lydia Shashe tell you
warmth and closeness of her embrace. He everything?” she asked. “My former best friend
squeezed her in a tight hug. went morally and virtue bankrupt.”
“I will contact you. That is an order.” “No, Lydia is not here to defend herself. I
suspected the information was from Lydia but
She didn’t reply. the lady said her name, not Lydia though,” he
had said. “Where did your friend live?”
“Let me go and change before we
check out,” she had said then she was gone. “Westwood is very close to Kambuzuma.
There is a section of low density looking houses
They both checked out of the inn. She
between Rugare to the east, Kambuzuma to
was dressed in a white dress with red crescents.
the south and Warren Park to the west if you
It fitted her from top to bottom. Her hair was
remember.”
made in a bun and tied at the back
whereupon a cape had been fitted through “I thought she had a flat close to North
the cape’s back opening to leave her hair tails Avenue looking over at Harare Sports Club in
out. He took her to where he hired a mountain Alexandria Park. I think its North Avenue corner
bike. He rode a bicycle seeing her as far as her Fairbridge.”
bus stop.
“She and I had similarities like I have with
“Richmond how much do you know you. We both extended our family homes with
about my shady past?” she had asked. the help of siblings. We both added bedroom
attachments to the family homes for us
“Like that you once got a Tom-boy?”
spinsters. She stayed in Kambuzuma not in
“No,” she shrieked. “What happened North Avenue as far as I know.”
was I like any unmarried senior fell in love with
“What happened to her since your
this smart and sweet looking man, younger
split?”
than me.”
“The last I heard she was in Cape Town.
“And?”
Things had fallen backwards for her. It wasn’t
boomerang boomerang
the type of life she fashioned after,” she had and me supporting his university studies. On the
replied. “Someone who saw her said she was a other hand I was considering the backlash of
waitress in a beer and steak joint. It fitted her such a move. It smacked of desperation.
well because short skirts/pants/shorts and big Somehow, the same best friend I confided in
cleavage t-shirts/blouses and push up should have told him about another scandal
brassieres did well for her. She liked the which frightened the little boy away.”
attention of men. However that may prove to
be very costly as in the leaked video footage “Sex?”
of her cavorting with three men and another
“It never came to that. I had my mistakes
lady. Had I known her character veered
but I had my decency and upbringing too,”
towards prostitution I would not have
she had replied. “The best he ever did, the
continued my friendship with her. Unfortunately
young Tom-boy as you call him was when I
I never finished the Nyamakwere joke with her.”
touched him. He got so excited he erupted
Richmond did not argue. There was a flat with both of us fully dressed inside my vehicle.
block which he knew which was well furnished He was so embarrassed that was the last I ever
and presentable where he had refused to take had him one on one.”
a lady to a date. Lydia had tried many times to
“And the abortion?” he asked.
have him on dinner dates yet Richmond’s
programs did not permit and he insisted on “I had a best friend whom I trusted yet
Ndanatsiwa being there. She had called him she is the cause why I could not marry because
names but he had gone all the same. Did he all my serious dates were supplied with
look like a pastor’s son? Was he a preacher incriminating information. To cut a long story
boy? short. What caused me to fall pregnant was
having her and her friends for close associates.
“Now tell me everything about what you
I had rubbed shoulders with the wrong lot. I
did from an early age. Please tell it from your
didn’t know that at fourteen they were already
own lips.”
on the pill, especially Lydia.
“Well, we went out on dates. I was
considering the issue of him moving with me
boomerang boomerang
“The African male when prowling to information including this Tomboy call him
breed requires that the lady he takes home whatever. I also didn’t know she was the leak.”
should be holy and clean with sexual standards
matching a nun while his own escapades with “It’s you and me not them.”
other women, prostitutes included are forgiven.
“I was fourteen and a half years old.
The fact that married men are creating
Because of my height and volume, I looked
bastards elsewhere does not bother the same
eighteen or nineteen. I went out with a boy of
men when they want their wives to be straight
nineteen who should have known better as an
and charming. A young man stands in a
adult than to make me pregnant. Had I been
hedge with a neighbourhood girl but he wants
above eighteen, I would have been presented
a virgin on the platter. That is why those
to him as a pregnant bride but I was too
charming girls lie their way to marriage.”
young. Worse of which, my mother was also
“Am I included in that?” pregnant. I raised both her blood sugar and
her blood pressure. My step-father solved the
“I was just saying that. Maybe I will problem by reporting the issue to the police.
consider a date offer I had when I came here. I Armed with the police report and me, he had
was approached by two male Caucasians me at Harare Hospital undergoing a legal
more like Latino hunks who offered me abortion.”
something if I could go and have a romp with
both. Maybe men see me in those terms as a “Some people say you took after your
big woman with a big behind and voluminous mother.”
bosoms only for their joy then forget about me
“I don’t know but my mother was not a
as soon as they are satiated.
harlot. She married a man who dumped her in
“I knew later that had Lydia wanted she the rural areas for a year and half by which
would have been married some time ago but time she had a miscarriage within five months.
she liked guys mooning over her. It was she Then she had me by her secret lover and that
who was into slightly younger men than her caused a furore. She married another man
age yet she turned the tables on me each time later whose is my adoptive father though I was
I wanted to seriously date by releasing given my biological father’s surname from
boomerang boomerang
before mother had married my adoptive “The Thirteenth amendment I guess?”

father.”
“You tell me more and let’s see where
“My mother was a street hooker. I traced we exchange notes,” she replied. “You should
her roots before the hullabaloo at the surprise not ditch your parents because of the past. A
party for my parents. It ended on her grave in married woman who takes a lover has a very
Nhema near Shurugwi. She did not give a hoot bad name in the old country. That name has
about the children she created and dumped been pasted to my mother several times in the
with their fathers. I was the only one dumped in past. Had Lydia Shashe known that my father is
a rubbish pit. The rest were left with their male a famous school teacher whoops, she would
creators before they were six months old and have released her tongue.”
she went underground.”
“My mother passed away in Nhema,
“Out of bad things are brewed very near Shurugwi, her rural home from
good things,” she suggested. “Seed has to rot complications arising from drinking
in the ground to bring out new shoots. A contaminated alcohol which had been home
candle consumes itself to give light. Grapes brewed. My biological father, I knew his family.
have to be pressed, foreign objects added, It’s odd that when Kangira moved from
fermented in vats to give us our wine. My Marandellas leaving his brothers and sisters
lineage is not holy either.” there, their children related and kept visiting.
The third generation we include Mamhepo
“Where you by any chance a poet?” and the late chief’s grandsons or great
grandsons in family activities. Kangira was one
”Never but I read, understood and
in a hundred. He outlived his half-brother who
loved languages.”
usurped him to the chieftainship by more than
“I had forgotten you are a trained lawyer forty-five years. The chief didn’t last fifteen
with a master’s degree in corporate law,” he years neither did his predecessor outlast
had replied. “That is a legal justification but Kangira too.”
otherwise you are just a sly crook.”
“Have you ever checked if you have
“Richmond!” other half-brothers or sisters?”
boomerang boomerang
”On both sides there are there but I keep said you African men or men in general want
in touch with the parents that raised me not holy wives when you are single fathers looking
the biological father that sired me. I used to the to marry.”
brood in Highfield or from Highfield.”
“No more issues with former dates and
“It’s called life and at most it’s unfair.” current dates. I am not holy as you once said. I
almost married Mildred but she didn’t want to
She gave him a bear hug. For a moment settle down. She was making it big within her
he held her close. family circle and in the country growing a work
reputation. Maybe one day she will realize love
“Ndanatsiwa, you are still the most
will have left her.”
beautiful, elegant and captivating woman to
me. You believed a haughty lady predisposed She disappeared into the labyrinth of
to come back into my life anytime she wanted. seats within the bus. The glasses were tinted.
It cost us a lot. Had we not chanced on She could see 60% well from her seat but he
meeting who knows what wouldn’t have could not do the opposite.
happened?"
He had a date first with some trees in the
She looked at him increasing her pupil mountain sides then he had one with a mature
size. She didn’t reply. bold and beautiful big woman. He was going
through a learning curve. The trees were
“Sorry that was I gate crashing your
equally as large as back home. They were
happiness, my former friend.”
different. Their grains and interiors were
“They said you dated a customs guy?” different.
“We had a dating arrangement. He was learning to work with Pine

Cinderella hoped Clifton would be a charming Northern white pine, Basswood, cottonwood,
prince. He turned out to be someone that my butternut, walnut, Sugar pine and others. Some
friend blew the whistle on. He turned his back were hardwoods while others were soft. He
on me like I was rabid when he was told I had could also buy import blocks of mahogany and
had an abortion at fourteen years of age. Like I other hardwoods from far and wide depending
boomerang boomerang
on customer specifications. He tried to the air. Both are however scheduled to lift off in
remember her parting words to him. an hour.”
“I love you Richmond Kangira! Yes, I think “Yeah, I want to hijack one. Let’s talk in
I do.” your office time is not on my side,” Richmond
had said. He had never seen a sales
representative trotting behind him. “Do you
have a map?”
____________________________________
“I wouldn’t be in business if I didn’t have

He took his bicycle riding with his helmet a map.”
on turning and twisting with the road. As he
Richmond stood surveying a large wall
negotiated a corner, there was a huge Mack
map that included New York. He fumbled in his
truck bearing down on the road. He knew the
pocket and found his bank card.
slipstream of the truck mixed with diesel smoke
was not good. He turned into a footpath and “There is a woman I want to intercept so
continued riding. you can fly me to here and drop me there. The
rest I will make on my own,” he had replied.
He emerged to look at a helipad with
two helicopters. He stood there on his bike “We will use the Eurocopter AS350B-3
looking at both. that can sit up to six passengers that is the one
on the left,” the pilot had emerged upon being
“Hey,”
requested by the sales representative. Its
“Yap.” Turbomeca Arriel 2B engines soon roared to
life. The rotors started turning like a machine
“Can I help or give you a guided tour of whipping cream or mixing fruit churning and
our company. Business is down these days churning.
otherwise these two birds would have been in
____________________________________

boomerang boomerang
took notice why a man should be wearing a

cycle helmet at a bus stop because nothing
The Van Hool double deck TD925 coach was unusual. The driver seriously considered the
was on the motorway moving its engines offer.
thrusting it forward. It was on the Palisades
Expressway as it approached A-74 before “Can I see identification please?”
swinging across the Hudson Rover heading into
Upper Manhattan. A few minutes ago the He studied the documentation before
passengers had been observing fleeting reaching for the microphone.
glimpse of the Hudson River, its flora and fauna
“There is a lady of African-American
where buildings had not been permitted or
extraction. There is a sales package coming to
farmlands remained and the impressive
the door feel free to disembark and catch up
Hudson Drive.
with your surprise,” the driver’s voice had
The river continued to mesmerise her. It boomed twice.
was magnificent, well kept and without the
The cyclist came around and climbed to
stench of industrial waste otherwise she would
the top into the coach. Ndanatsiwa was
not have seen the plethora of tourist leisure
standing talking to another passenger. The
craft criss-crossing the river. It stopped as
fellow passenger was being impressive with the
scheduled after the George Washington
amount of legal knowledge.
Bridge. Some passengers disembarked with
their luggage if any as they reached their “Are you a lawyer?” asked the elderly
various stops while a few disembarked to women.
loosen their bodies before re-boarding.
Ndanatsiwa continued to look at the artistry “I am a law lecturer,” Ndanatsiwa had
used to build the sprawling mess of steel and replied,
concrete that had bridged the Hudson far
above without disturbing the traffic below. “Attention please, look here there is
grand pops Romeo looking for grandmother
A man in a cycle helmet talked to the Juliet,” the driver had said in the intercom.
driver on the right side of the coach. No one
boomerang boomerang
“Richmond there are no trees in this “One of those,” he pointed to a hovering

coach. There are no carvings either.” helicopter showing tourists the Hudson River.
“Unfortunately I may have to replace the hired
“Hey girl,” Richmond said breaking into a bicycle that I left elsewhere.”
smile. “You are the best type of wood block
that a man can ever want to relish for life. The coach blew its horn. Richmond and
Come here. I want to give you my heart to sail Ndanatsiwa waved.
upon. That finger should have my ring. Don’t
swing, I am the only suitor here.” “If you allow me,” Richmond picked up
her luggage going to a vehicle rental counter.
The whole bus fell silent. His bank card was in demand. She stood by a
pillar looking around her. He led her out of the
“Which girl is it?” someone asked. complex.
“Ndanatsiwa Katokwe, please come There was BMW 750i executive lounge
down the ramp with me. I love you woman, will twin-turbo charger 4, 4-litre V8 in Magellan
you please?” Richmond asked. “I lost you once Grey metallic colour in a parking bay.
I will never lose you again.“
“Where are we going?” she asked. “You
There were handclaps, whistles and do not need to mesmerize me Richmond. I am
cheers. He stood by a pillar awaiting not an angel. I am neither a saint. I messed up
Ndanatsiwa to bring her luggage. She just had on my life big time. I messed up with you too.”
one hand held bag with her hand bag
“Who cares,” he asked opening the door
strapped around her shoulder. One of the
for her. “I lost you once I will not lose you
gentlemen was good enough to help her
again.”
down the steps.
“We can go wherever there are giant
“Please allow me,” she reached over to
trees that you need get inspiration from. I can
remove the cycle helmet. “How the heck did cancel all the odd jobs until my teaching
you get here ahead of me?” assignments resumes in two days’ time. Never
ever, ever, carve me!”

boomerang boomerang
GLOSSARY
1. A’mbuya mother of one’s wife

a man’s sister and the wife of one’s
brother-in-law
2. Amai mother/woman
THE END 3. Baas

4. Baba
5. Bwana
Afrikaans for boss
father/sir
chief
6. Domboshawa red rocks
7. Gogo grandmother
8. Imba Matombo a house is a rock
9. Kangira fry in
10. Lalapansi lie down
11. Lapalapa literally means here, here
12. Mahewu drink made from fermentation of
maize meal porridge
13. Mainini mother’s sister/daughter of
maternal uncle/ one’s wife’s younger
sister/younger sister to a woman
14. Mamhepo spirits or wind
15. Mapeto edge
16. Marweyi why did you fight
17. Masvosva one who incites
18. Mbuya grandmother/maternal aunt
19. Mhanduwe a term given to people from
Mutoko, means something like friend/fellow
country person
20. Mukoma elder brother
boomerang
21. Munin’ina younger brother

22. Mvemve waste
23. Ngomakurira beating of drums
24. Nyau a Malawian dancer
25. Sadza thick paste made from
maize meal
26. Sahwira a friend within a family
27. Sekuru grandfather/maternal
uncle or his sons
28. Uhuru independence
temba magorimbo
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8 Let Close On Me 978-149-934-5429

9 Off The Eagle’s Claws 978-149-934-5453

11 Pata – Pata [soft footsteps] 978-150-109-9825

10 Splash In The Loch 978-149-934-5488

12 They Breed Merino Sheep 978-150-254-2472

13 Tigers Hunt At Night 978-149-934-5550

14 Whiplash [love triangle] 978-150-336-3748

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temba magorimbo temba magorimbo

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He was puffed up by the time he

Their urge to drink overcame the urge

He was the one wielding the axe. He

knew in his mind what he wanted to produce.

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Kangira thought carefully. Europeans except the Boers came by the

“I know there are yours. I was just saying __________________________________

“Why can’t you lead me to this

“These are rural areas master where if

He had to select his clothes for the day

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“Don’t call any of your livestock Moses

“I am coming to your kraal this Saturday

“That is all right and thank you baas,”

“I will bring the cash-in-lieu of steers as

The elephant was well worth more than

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temba magorimbo temba magorimbo

__________________________________ “By now had you married Kangira we

“He is married too.” “But to make a mockery of uncle

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surviving uncle, the last born in their father’s lot.

“The first born of that line is Kangira the

"You, Mvemve don’t come here telling “Hah?”

There were times when it was better to “Kangira”

“People have fought wars over “Not my younger sister Gloria.”

“I heard you were in.”

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temba magorimbo temba magorimbo

“A rural area in Rusape?”

“Yeah just outside Rusape to the north

“No, Makoni rural is between Rhodes

“On the land they started plantations of

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____________________________________ school. You avoid that too by turning towards

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“Maputi!” someone was calling. “It’s hot.”

"Yes that one." “They talk about?”

“The custom is he sends a woman or “Thanks a lot messenger of the chief.”

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These reed bucket chairs totalled eight "Kangira I see you."

“I like them when they become